


Of silver tongues and do overs

by Pinetasticapple



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: A little angst, Akumatized Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Akumatized Main Character, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gabriel Agreste A+ parenting, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Reveal, Recovery, taking responsibilities
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2019-10-20 03:18:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17614409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pinetasticapple/pseuds/Pinetasticapple
Summary: After the events of Chameleon, Marinette is doubting everything and everyone, unsure of how to proceed with the advice she was given.But sometimes, an ally is required for certain battles, and if this one has the magic to rewrite stories, maybe she could work with that.[Hiatus]





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written fanfic in ages and I had this floating around, especially after that episode aired because boy was I disappointed.  
> I'm not that used to introducing OC's in fanfic but let's see how this goes. I should clarify that while this is me annoyed at the episode and I haven't done anything for ML since it came out, I'll try my best in the characterization but hey, fanfic is fanfic in the end.  
> Tags will be added as the story goes, because I do have a pairing in mind at the end but shall see first how it goes.  
> Anyway, enjoy!

**Of silver tongues and do overs**

 

It was a beautiful evening in Paris. The sky had just the right amount of clouds to allow the sunset light to filter through them, hues from orange to purple decorating all over the city as the street lights lit up in methodical synchrony. The air was fresh, from the top of a balcony the scent of mint and rosemary mixing from the neighbour’s rooftop garden. It was a postcard imagery, the right amount of ease and mindfulness mixed into one.

But Marinette Dupain-Cheng paid no attention to any of that.

Her mind was reliving the day, how it had started as any other only to plummet into total disaster. She was thinking about every piece of conversation, every moment between her classmates, and yet many things didn’t make sense.

Wasn’t Max smart enough to know a napkin was impossible to leave someone blind? Especially if that someone was wearing glasses? Wasn’t Rose already close friends with Ali to confirm the lies told by Lila? Wasn’t Alya, her best friend, brave journalist that worked hard to find the truth after her incident as Lady Wifi, the first to verify sources?

“It doesn’t make sense” Marinette sighed against the rail of her balcony.

Nothing of that day had made sense. It was as if everyone had been under a spell or something, blind to everything they knew or charmed by Lila’s words so strong they refused to believe anything else.

And then, and then there was the hurt.

Marinette could feel her exasperation crawling back to her mind. How hurt she had felt when Alya diminished her thoughts as mere reactions to jealously, how Nino had sort of belittled her without listening to the rest…

How Adrien had decided to “take the high road” as the best choice of action.

Because Adrien knew Lila was lying. Adrien knew, was well aware that Lila’s lies were going to cause more harm than good in the end. Sure, he didn’t know that Lila had basically threatened her, almost caused her to be akumatized, but because there was “no physical harm” then nothing bad had happened?

Marinette loves Adrien but after that day, she couldn’t help but to question how much had she ignored of him because of her crush.

“Marinette,” a tiny voice called her, the sight of the red kwami making her smile a little “are you ok?”

“I’m…” Marinette turned back to the city, the sky now dark with some stars twinkling in the distance “I don’t know.”

She moved away from her balcony and down to her room, sparing a glance at the posters that still remained on her wall. Her desktop with the same picture in better quality, the sketches she had been working on the entire weekend.

“This…taking the high road,” she looked at Tikki “it doesn’t feel right, but what else can I do? If I call her out then everyone will turn against me now, I don’t even think Adrien would have my back if I did… and what if I am suddenly not strong enough for the next time an akuma targets me?”

“But Marinette,” Tikki floated until she was on eye distance “you are strong, and always find a solution.”

Marinette offered a small smile but it wasn’t enough.

“I’m afraid I can’t do this fight on my own” she said as she turned to her drawer to retrieve her pyjamas “so much for every day Ladybug, at least Ladybug has her partner, right? Who do I have as daily life Marinette?”

Tikki didn’t have an answer to that, but before Marinette could shrug off her jacket, her phone beeped, a message alert that Tikki hovered over to see who it was from.

“Unregistered number” she looked at Marinette who grabbed the phone to check it out “be careful Marinette, it could be a scam.”

“Then best to delete and block right a- “Marinette cut her words short when she looked at the text.

_I believe you Ladybug_

Marinette’s breath got caught in her lungs, her hand almost dropping the phone, startled when it chimed again with a new message from the same number.

_Oh shoot, I just realized that last message may have looked bad. But I mean it, I believe you and I want to help you._

“Who- “she glanced at Tikki “do you think someone found out my identity as Ladybug?”

Tikki crossed her paws and glanced at the phone and back to Marinette, her expression a thinking frown.

“They don’t seem to be… threatening you?” she said “I think this could be the ally you are looking for.”

“But, I don’t know who they are” Marinette clutched her phone against her.

A third beep caught her attention as she looked at the new message popping on her screen.

_Oh, oh! Don’t worry. I am NOT telling anyone about your secret identity. I’m Mauro, I will be a transfer student at your class tomorrow._

“A transfer student?” Tikki blinked as Marinette finished reading “then how would they know about your number?”

“That’s exactly what I want to figure out” Marinette took a deep breath and typed it out.

**_How did you get this number?_ **

_Let’s say I have a bit of magic of my own._

Marinette frowned at that answer. She would play dumb then.

**_I don’t know what you are talking about, you must be mistaken._ **

_Right, secret identities and all. I’ve been through that story already. I understand this is way too sketchy Marinette but I can assure you, I mean no harm._

**_How do I know that?_ **

_Hm… well how can I prove you I’m 100% here to help you out? You name it._

Marinette frowned, sitting on her bed as she typed out.

**_How did you get this number?_ **

_Magic~_

**_I’m serious_ **

_So am I! You have a magical kwami, ask her about silver tongues._

“Silver tongues?” Marinette turned to Tikki who no longer had a worried expression but one of excitement “you know about them?”

“Oh Marinette!” she clasped her little paws as she flew towards the phone, rereading the conversation “a silver tongue got hold of your predicaments!”

“Is that good or bad?”

“Considering how this one is asking you to tell how to help? Good.”

Marinette hummed and felt some of her worry ease up, but she still couldn’t put down how this person, this silver tongue, found out about her identity. Wasn’t there magic that also helped camouflage hers and Chat Noir’s identities?

**_Let’s say I believe you_ **

_Awesome_

**_Why would you want to help me? We don’t really know each other_ **

_Why does Ladybug help and save Paris when she doesn’t know ALL of the people she saves? :D_

“That’s… a valid point,” Marinette frowned but left her phone on the drawer and got ready for bed. It wasn’t even nine but she was tired, exhausted of everything and in need of a good long rest.

“What are you going to do about this?”

“If you think it’s a good idea” Marinette said as she snuggled up in the covers “then I should at least listen to this person” she rolled over to get comfortable and closed her eyes “good night Tikki.”

“Good night Marinette,” Tikki gave her charge a small kiss on the forehead and waited until she could hear Marinette’s soft snoring to fly out of her room, zipping past the Parisian rooftops all the way until Master Fu’s home.

“Master, a silver tongue has appeared in Paris,” she greeted him and revealed the information before he could ask why she was there “and has approached my charge.”

Master Fu blinked, looked at Tikki and then to the night sky, humming as his hands thrummed against the wooden table.

“Any particular reason?”

“I, well,” Tikki’s antennae lowered, “today was a difficult day Master, the akuma and how it happened all” she shook her head, determination in her eyes “but silver tongues appear for many reasons, right?” Master Fu nodded “maybe this one wants to help? They made contact first, that is a good sign, and maybe they are here to help Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“Yes, but it would be best to know their intentions first” he looked at Tikki “a silver tongue can be a powerful ally or a terrible enemy, and if Hakwmoth were to know-“

“He would use it to obtain the Miraculous,” Tikki nodded “but it would be good to see this one’s intentions before, don’t you think?”

“If you trust them Tikki” Master Fu stood up “and they mean no harm to you or your charge, then best to know what or why are they here for,” he offered the kwami a smile “thank you for letting me know.”

“As soon as we know more I shall tell Marinette to come as well” Tikki smiled and bowed before zipping out of the room and back to her charge, leaving the night of Paris to its own.

When morning came, Marinette was already up and awake. She was ready for the day, for the most part.

“I don’t really feel like going to school” Marinette sighed after she waved her parents good bye, the jingle of the door echoing behind her “what if they changed seats again?”

“Then it is good we are arriving on time, isn’t it?” Tikki said from Marinette’s purse “and we will get to see the silver tongue.”

“Right,” Marinette looked around the school block, students making their way up the stairs and inside “I had forgotten about that.”

She hadn’t paid much attention to the people around her, instead going straight up towards her classroom that was mostly empty, with just Nathaniel at his usual seat as well as Juleka and Rose who were listening to some music on Rose’s phone.

Marinette sat down on her seat, the one she had had since the beginning of the year, and pulled out her tablet to check she had done all the homework.

She ignored the chattering of her classmates as they filled the room, only nodded at Nino’s greeting and offered a small smile at Alya’s “well someone is here on time”. She had noticed Adrien walking in with Lila clinging to his arm and his pained expression but she held against saying something. This was what Adrien had said to do wasn’t it? And if she were to say something, Alya would probably throw another ‘you are saying it because you are jealous’ comment at her.

“Now, class, to your seats” Mme. Bustier entered the classroom just in time and Marinette let out the sigh of relief as Lila moved to her new assigned seat, not without throwing Marinette a leering smirk.

“I know we had a problem with the seat rearrangements, so let’s try to not cause a commotion, especially to our new exchange student,” Mme. Bustier kept talking, with most of the class turning to look at her, curiosity on the top of their heads as Marinette frowned at that. So they were having someone new. She spared a glance at her purse but Tikki didn’t poke her head out nor did she feel any taps against her thigh, so she kept looking at her teacher.

“Thank you Miss Bustier” the principal said from the front door as he walked towards her, “as your professor said, you will be joined by an exchange student from Mexico, he is going to be practicing his language skills as well as learning about different school environments…”

Marinette lost track of what Principal Damocles said, because just as he talked, a boy taller than Marinette, with tan skin and freckles all over his face and arms came through. His hair was a mess of black and silver highlights, with a plaid shirt and t-shirt with words Marinette figured were Spanish, washed out jeans and an untied shoe. He had his hands in his pockets and the moment Marinette crossed sight with him, he just grinned.

“Mauro, make yourself comfortable in the class” Marinette heard Mme. Bustier “if you need anything our class representative Marinette can assist you.”

“Wha-“Marinette had forgotten about that detail.

The boy, Mauro, nodded and skipped the steps to the back, where Marinette had sat the day before and settled down.

Just as the teacher went to the board to start the class, Marinette’s phone buzzed on her pocket, and as she discreetly pulled it out to check, she could feel a swirl of emotions invading her head.

_So! How would you like me to prove to you I am telling the truth that I want to help?_


	2. Silver tongues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette gets to meet Mauro, the mysterious texter. But why and how will he help Marinette?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. The majority thinks Mauro is cute so, I think I should draw him or something.  
> Anyway, enjoy!

Marinette knew she was not going to be able to talk to the new guy just like that, especially with the teacher present, and at least not without creating a scene. Which is why she tried to focus on the class ahead of her.

She ignored the text from her phone and paid attention to what Mme. Bustier was talking about, but her mind was not on her side as the curiosity grew more and more within her. They were reviewing some Geography? History? Marinette had totally forgotten what class they were on, too many things in her mind to keep track on now.

“Now, for this month’s project, this is intended for you to expand your knowledge on a different country, I expect you to do a full research of your choice’s culture, geography and politics so if you please choose a partner to work with, remember, this is a work of two.”

Marinette didn’t have enough time to react when most of her classmates were calling out for Lila, of all people, to partner with them.

“You have been all around the world Lila, I’d love to partner with you,”

“Don’t listen to this doofus, I’m sure we would do an amazing job together.”

Marinette wanted to slam her head against the desk, were they for real? The only ones she didn’t see throwing themselves over Lila were Chloé, who was surprisingly paying attention to Sabrina’s ideas and Adrien who hadn’t even moved from his seat, probably to shrink away from Lila’s line of sight.

Marinette turned around to see even Alya had joined the mob around Lila because she just had to have the first scoop of Lila’s ‘trips’ and Marinette had had it.

“Everyone, you are so kind,” Lila smiled in that saccharine way that irked Marinette “but because I’ve been so behind in my assignments, don’t you think it would be best for Adrien to partner with me?” she looked at the blond “it would be best to catch up with all of you, right?”

Marinette glanced at Adrien’s shoulders who slumped when the chatter of her classmates agreed with Lila’s words. She felt bad, she could ask Adrien to partner up with her instead, but her classmates would then turn it against her like the day before and-

“No pos si, this is way worse than I thought” someone said to her right that made her turn to notice Mauro standing on the steps next to her seat, but he was looking at her classmates instead of her “it would be funnier if they started to caw like seagulls.”

“Huh?”

Mauro just snickered to himself and turned to Marinette “anyway, would you like to partner up with me?”

Marinette couldn’t tell at that moment if her luck had turned for better or worse.

“S-sure,” Marinette said, “Mauro, right?”

“Hey, you remembered my name” Mauro smiled “wait, the teacher just said it not so long ago.”

Marinette eyed him closely. He didn’t seem to be wearing a miraculous of the sort, but his fingers were all covered in smudges of blue ink, while the front pocket of his shirt held what seemed to be a fountain pen.

“Yeah uh, and you mentioned it yesterday,” she said, looking for a reaction but Mauro just grinned.

“I again, apologize for that,” he said, and then in a lower voice added, “I promise I will explain it all about that too.”

And with that he pointed to his seat and walked back to his seat, giving Marinette two thumbs up signs just as the teacher called them all back to their seats.

“Does everyone have a partner then?” the teacher asked as Lila raised her hand “yes Lila?”

“As I was telling my lovely classmates, I think it would be best for me to work with Adrien, that way I could also catch up with my delayed homework.”

“That is a very valid point Lila” she turned to Adrien who just kept his shoulders straight, and even if Marinette couldn’t see his face, she could tell he was giving Mme. Bustier a model smile, the one that didn’t reach his eyes “Adrien, do you think you could partner up with Lila for this assignment?”

“I, yes of course Mme. Bustier” Adrien said, hint of dejection in his tone.

“Very well then, as for the others?”

“Think we can convince Mme. Bustier to add Nino to our group?” Alya turned to Marinette but she shook her head.

“Actually,” Marinette raised her hand “Mme. Bustier, I will be working with Mauro.”

“That’s excellent Marinette” the teacher smiled, looking at Mauro’s nodding expression.

“What?” Alya whispered while the teacher took the names of the other pairs “I thought we would pair up as usual.”

“He is new, and approached me first to ask” Marinette muttered back, keeping her tone as calm as possible “but hey, now you can work with Nino, isn’t that good?”

“I-” Alya didn’t get to say more as the teacher called for their attention back, so they could continue with their lessons.

By the time lunch period started Marinette could feel a cloud of stress in the classroom, she was so glad of the bell ringing.

“How about we all go to the library?” Nino turned to the girls “that way we can start as a group and help each other out?”

“That sounds like a great idea” Alya smiled “we will have this done in no time.”

Being in the library with Lila clinging to Adrien’s side while telling more and more lies to their faces? Marinette wanted to say no so bad.

Adrien’s phone beeped at that moment, his face a mix of relief and disappointment -was that even possible? - as he read the message.

“Sorry guys” he stood up and gathered his bag “Nathalie just sent me a message, it seems there was a change on my schedule, see you later?”

“Oh, sure bro” Nino fist bumped him “good luck with that.”

Adrien nodded and waved at the girls, an apologetic smile as he turned to Marinette and walked out of the classroom, soon followed by Lila who ignored the three friends still on their seats.

“Well then, we could get going and-” Alya got a message too, frowning as she read it “oh?”

“What’s wrong?” Marinette looked at her friend but Alya was smiling as she put her phone back in her pocket “what was it?”

“Looks like my mom wants to have an official meeting of my boyfriend” she looked at Nino “is it ok with you babe?”

“I uh, sure! Of course, I am” Nino smiled, “it sounds important after all.”

“Sorry, Marinette,”

“It’s alright” she smiled, “see you after lunch then.”

The pair waved and walked out of the classroom, leaving Marinette with a weird thought in the back of her head. As it what had just happened was very…coincidental.

She looked behind and spotted Mauro, still on his seat, looking at the window until he noticed Marinette’s stare, grinning back at her.

“You did that,” was the first thing she said, walking towards his seat and crossing her arms “how did you do that?”

“Well,” Mauro opened the pocket of his shirt to retrieve a neatly folded piece of paper, the edges covered in ink “this is how I did it.”

He placed it on the table for Marinette to pick and unfold, where she found a small paragraph written in bright blue ink.

_“Lunch time arrived, the students already eager to grab something to eat after a long day. The heroine could tell her energy was not enough to deal with the liar, even as her friends were still ignorant to the deception. As she braced herself to endure one more time the lies, the strings of fate worked in her favour, her companions summoned away by events so common, it was as a magical coincidence.”_

Marinette read the paragraph, reread it and turned the paper around. It… it was just as what had just happened, with a little more tackiness in it but the situation was too similar.

“How…”

“I told you, magic.”

“That doesn’t-“ she groaned “what kind of magic?”

“I’m guessing your little friend didn’t tell you” Mauro sighed and stood up, waiting for Marinette to move so he could get out of the desk “I am a silver tongue, I have… a kind of magic with words.”

“So you are clever with words,”

“Actually no, I’m not that eloquent when I speak, hence my mess up in reaching you” he smiled “I meant it more… if I read something, something out loud? I can make it become real, like the paragraph you just read”

Marinette had had enough share of magical experiences to not doubt of what she had just heard. But even then, it was way too difficult to believe.

“Of course I have a lot of limits, can’t go around popping things out of books and all, who knows what could go wrong if I did, and when I write it? It is way more difficult, I have to make it very compelling and descriptive,” Mauro said as he waved a hand around “and you stopped listening to me.”

“What? No, I” Marinette handled over the paper “it’s too hard to believe.”

“Hm, and a guy in a purple suit hypnotizing people to be super villains while a girl in a jumpsuit and an anime cat boy fight them is like a daily thing.”

Marinette frowned at that as a giggle came out of her purse, opening to reveal Tikki’s bright eyes.

“He has a point,” Tikki zoomed out and faced Mauro “hi! I haven’t seen a silver tongue in centuries, so nice to meet you.”

“Oh, nice to meet you too ma’am” Mauro smiled “and, again, I apologize for scaring you yesterday,” he turned to Marinette “I did mess up sending you the message like that.”

“So, how is it that you found out I’m…you know,” she glanced at the door but no one had returned or passed by, giving them still time to talk “you couldn’t have read it somewhere.”

“Hm? Oh, no that was just pure logic” Mauro shrugged “you are brave, loyal, kind of impulsive but also very intelligent” he started to list, ignoring Marinette’s flushed cheeks “plus no one else in here has been, possessed so-“

“You mean akumatized?”

“That,” he snapped his fingers “an odd choice of word but whatever, and let’s not forget you do have a similar hair style and voice.”

“Then that means everyone else knows I’m-“

“Sorry” he held up his hands “before you panic, no, I can assure you no one here knows about you or Cat boy-“

“Chat Noir-“

“-your identities” Mauro rolled his eyes “I know because I saw your story Marinette. And I was asked to come here and help you out, that of course if you wanted it.”

Marinette looked at the paper and the ink on Mauro’s hands, the way Tikki wasn’t frazzled by his presence or how in all this time she hadn’t felt her gut telling her Mauro was lying. The guy had laid down what he could do, no sketchiness, no vague meanings, something Marinette hadn’t seen that often, and she had dealt with Hawkmoth way too much to know about sketchy guys.

“But you just manipulated my friends,” the word, for some reason, felt strange in her mouth “you made them leave and popped out scenarios for them to, isn’t that what Hawkmoth does? Manipulate?”

To her surprise, Mauro didn’t flinch or frowned, but his smile no longer looked bright.

"When I read something, I bring a part of the story, of the words to this world," he pulled out a book from his bag, tattered and worn on the edges, “but when I write it, I try real hard not to do what you just said” he looked at the book as he flipped some of the pages, looking for a specific one “I try just to set the steps and the characters do the rest on their own.”

Marinette looked again at the paragraph, how there were no names in it but Marinette had felt she was the heroine Mauro wrote on the paper. And it wasn’t as if he wrote what the others reacted to. Just as he had said, the stage was there, but Alya, Adrien and Nino all filled it on their own, with their experiences and routines.

“How different is if the words are already there,”

“Here, let me show you,” Mauro pointed, at last, a page from his book, cleared his throat and started to read out loud.

 _Music, like an ocean, often carries me away!_  
 _Through the ether far,_  
 _or under a canopy of mist, I set sail_  
 _for my pale star._  
 _Breasting the waves, my lungs_ swollen  
 _like a ship’s canvas,_  
 _night veils from me the long rollers,_  
 _I ride their backs:_  
 _I sense all a suffering vessel’s passions_  
 _vibrating within me:_  
 _while fair winds or the storm’s convulsions_  
 _on the immense deep_  
 _cradle me. Or else flat calm, vast mirror there_  
 _of my despair!_  

As Mauro read each verse, Marinette felt as if her face had been splashed with salt water, the taste on her lips as a tune filled the classroom, melancholic and slow, like a serenade towards the ocean itself. Her lungs filled with air and she could feel herself no longer in the classroom, but in a distant place with the ocean colliding against the rocks, the wind messing with her hair.

And just as Mauro finished the last verse, she was back in Paris, in her school, with the cool breeze of autumn and no longer tasting salt on her lips.

“Wow,” she looked at Mauro “that’s Baudelaire, isn’t it?”

“Ironic I chose a French poet but yes,” Mauro put the book back in his bag “I want to help you Marinette, I really do. You deserve a chance to feel, to heal off the damage that has been done. But only if you want me to if not, I can pull myself out of this narrative.”

Marinette looked at him, at Tikki that was smiling at her, and to the empty classroom, where soon it would be filled with people that had turned their back against her, that had pushed her aside after calling her their “every day Ladybug.”

She took a deep breath and offered her hand out for Mauro to shake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun, dun,
> 
> Also, the poet is a translation of "Music" by Charles Baudelaire.  
> Thank you for reading!


	3. Let it all out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette gets a chance to let out some of her frustration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy, was I on a high. Enjoy!  
> Bit of disclaimer: I do NOT hate any character. If it looks as if I'm being too tough or something, it's not because I hate them.

Coming back to class after that was a surreal feeling, Marinette had even more trouble paying attention than before. It was mere luck that she noted down anything, her mind reeling back to what had happened during lunch. Mauro had commented that his skill was limited to a certain number of words per day and he would answer any question later, so to have that certainty was a bonus.

She had paid attention to Alya and Nino coming back, apparently happy with the lunch at home, while Adrien arrived somewhat slumped, but composing himself as he entered the classroom. She didn’t see signs of Lila and it was only because she had gone home since she was feeling unwell from lunch.

Marinette didn’t buy that for one second.

She was relieved when classes were finally over, a little eager to find out how things were going to unfold, she didn’t stay long to talk to her friends –again, a weird feeling came to her when she thought of them like that-, because she wanted to get started on the project as soon as possible.

“We were going to go to the library,” Nino mentioned, “as we said before lunch?”

“Oh,” Marinette didn’t know what to say. Even if Lila wasn’t there, she still felt uncertain to be hanging out with them like if nothing had happened. Because what if they brought it up and again made it all about how Marinette was in the wrong? And what if Adrien heard it? Would he stand up for her? Or would he keep quiet about it since that was his plan to go?

“Yeah, we can go to Lila’s place later to give her the homework she missed out on” Alya added and Marinette felt her stomach dropping even more.

“Marinette!” someone called her from the door and she almost let out all her breath in relief when she saw it was Mauro “sorry, I know you were probably heading home but can I ask for your guidance as class representative?” he clapped his hands together and grinned “I just can’t get something about this schedule.”

He looked at the other three and for a brief moment, Marinette saw a change in Mauro’s eyes, like he was analysing them, reading them? But his smile came back as he waved.

“Oh hi, I didn’t catch your names before,”

“Mauro right? So good to have a new classmate, I’m Alya” the girl went to shake his hand, Mauro apologizing for the ink stains “these two are Nino and Adrien.”

Mauro waved at them.

“Sorry to cut this short but could I borrow Marinette?” he grinned again “there’s this other teacher asking me to give this and I swear I am lost.”

Marinette smiled at the other three.

“Maybe next time?” she said as she walked out of the classroom “rain check!”

The others didn’t get to give her an answer as she was already gone, Mauro just waving apologetically as he left as well.

He smiled at Marinette and walked with her until they were out of the school, where Marinette pointed at the park that was near her home.

“Did you write that to happen?”

“Hm no,” Mauro said “I still have enough for one more paragraph today but that” he pointed behind at the school “that was just a planned coincidence.”

Marinette hummed, currently sitting on a bench while looking at the fountain.

“So how would you help me?”

“Well, let’s look at the situation from the beginning, the root of the problem.”

“So you get to rewrite everything? From the beginning?”

“What? Oh no,” he shook his head, “I am not that skilled yet, and that wouldn’t be… ideal.”

“What do you mean?”

Mauro cracked his knuckles and shook his fingers, stretching them as he tried to put his thoughts in order.

“As I said, writing it to happen is very different from reading it. I have to stick to the rules of your world, of this universe, if you had, for example, a miraculous that could travel back in time then, by all means, I would do that.”

“I’m actually glad you won’t rewrite it,” Marinette said as she looked at her surroundings “even with a bad day, bad moments… I still have plenty of good moments I wouldn’t change.”

“Which is why I’m only going to help in how you ask me to,” Mauro pulled out his notebook and pen “I have enough for one more paragraph, maybe a hundred words?”

“I don’t… unless you uncovered all of Lila’s lies, but Adrien said-“

Mauro snorted, making her frown at his reaction.

“I’m sorry, but I cannot take him seriously,”

Marinette’s squinted more at him, frustration bubbling up in her. She crossed her arms and glared at him, chin high as she spoke.

“And why not?”

“Because…what’s the word I want, coyón,”

“Ah?”

“No? I thought I'd have a similar word in French” he frowned “like a coward, yeah.”

“W-what?!” Marinette stood up and glared at him “Adrien is not a coward! He is kind and considerate for other people’s feelings. He has shown brave moments and-”

“Wow, wait, considerate other people’s feelings? Like yours?” Mauro crossed his arms, “please tell me how he did yesterday when he said it was best to keep quiet about this girl lying to everyone than backing you up?”

“I-“Marinette frowned “that’s different.”

“I’m all ears.”

Marinette opened and closed her mouth, trying to come up with something, but nothing came out of her brain. She paced in front of Mauro until she groaned out in frustration and sat back down.

“He thought it would make things worse” Marinette sighed “if Lila got upset, angry even, she would be akumatized for the fourth time.”

“But what about you? What about how you felt Marinette?”

She looked down at the ground and clenched her fists, trying to ease her breathing. She had to compose herself, she couldn’t lose to the emotions.

Mauro sighed and started to scribble something, scratching out some words and rewriting, muttering to himself as Marinette looked at him and how focused he was on the lines he was creating.

“We will get nowhere if you keep bottling them up like that,” he said as he scratched a full line and wrote underneath, “I think that’s where we can start.”

“You know why I of all people cannot allow myself to be akumatized,” Marinette said with a dejected tone “I have to keep my emotions in check.”

“Which is why…pérame, almost done,” he smiled as he wrote the last word and showed it to her, “I think I can pull this off, what do you think?”

Marinette took the notebook and read the small paragraph, her eyes widening as she checked every word, rereading it to make sure she got it right.

“You can do this?”

Mauro nodded as he took the notebook back, pocketing his pen and staining his shirt with the fresh ink of his fingers.

“Well, I said I was going to be your ally, this is what I can do now, if you want me to, sorry it sounds a little chopped, I had to keep it short.”

“No, no,” she looked at him “this is… this is good.”

“Do you want to try?”

Marinette glanced around the park and to her purse, where Tikki popped her head just to nod encouragingly at her.

“Yes,” she said, with more decision in her voice “please.”

Mauro nodded and cleared his throat.

_“The heroine needed a safe place. Even if it was for a moment, just until the sun disappeared, a bubble away from the ears of the moth that hungered for her humanity, for her right to feel. But creation was her power, and, as manifested from her strong will, the call of the ladybugs came to her aid, offering a shield from the outside world, where only she would reside, free to let all despair out, safe from the evil that lurked in her city, safe to finally let herself go._

_She allowed it to engulf her, the warmth of her own magic offering that comfort she so desperately needed…”_

Marinette could feel it in her skin, could feel the words wrapping around her as if they were meant for her, she could feel her frustrations, her worries, all of them coming stronger inside her. And for a moment she was starting to panic it wasn’t working.

But then, just as how she had read it, just as how Mauro was describing it, she saw the swarm of ladybugs approaching her, just like when she cast the miraculous cure, the ladybugs that shined in red, pink and white light, coming to her side, surrounding where she was seated until she no longer saw the sky above her, or the fountain, not even Mauro who had remained out of the shield of ladybugs.

“It worked,” Marinette whispered, a hand stretching out to the wall of ladybugs, her fingers tingling at the warmth from the magic, just like in the paragraph.

“Marinette,” Tikki flew out of her purse so she could face her chosen “I can sense this magic, and it works, just like he read it.”

“So that means,” Marinette felt her throat tight, “that means,”

“Let it out Marinette,” Tikki said, a sad smile on her face “let it all out.”

Marinette could feel the tears forming in her eyes as she felt all the emotions coming out of her. She let them fall, each tear that came out of frustration, of fear, of betrayal, of anger, all of them came out of her. She sobbed and screamed, hugging herself as she cried them all out.

She cried for the betrayal of her friends, for the loneliness that started to creep in her heart. She yelled for her impotence against Lila, of how she had threatened to take everything and everyone away from her. She could feel Tikki’s warm paws consoling her, not saying anything but remaining by her side, allowing her to let out all the feelings she hadn’t been able to show because of Hawkmoth's threat to akumatize her because she was Ladybug, the only one who could purify akumas. She embraced the warmth of the ladybug shield that let her be the teenage girl she was, the girl that had been hurt and left to heal for herself.

Marinette didn’t know how much time she had spent there, crying until her eyes felt dry and puffy. She pulled a handkerchief from her purse and wiped off the track of tears on her cheeks, giving Tikki a small, tired smile.

“How are you feeling Marinette?” Tikki asked as she picked the handkerchief to help clean Marinette’s face “Better? Worse?”

“I…” she held her throat, sore from the yelling she had made “tired Tikki, but, a good tired?” she gave the kwami a small smile “like a weight I had been carried has been lifted from my shoulders.”

Tikki smiled, just as the ladybugs started to scatter away, slowly unwrapping themselves from the cocoon they had formed around Marinette until not one was left, leaving Marinette with a cold chill running up her arms as her eyes adjusted to the now lit by lanterns park.

She turned to see Mauro who was sitting cross-legged on the bench, reading with squinted eyes due to the lack of natural light.

“Uhm,” she cleared her throat again, catching his attention.

“Oh, hey” he closed his book and uncrossed his legs, wincing as they were numb from the position “how are you feeling?”

“I… I feel a lot better,” Marinette smiled at him “thank you so much.”

“Don’t,” he smiled back at her “you needed it, and see? No purple butterflies came,”

Marinette glanced around, surprised at the calmness of the park, no sirens in the distance, no alerts on her phone. Just a nice Parisian evening.

“I should,” Marinette cleared her throat again, suddenly feeling vulnerable of being out after her venting “I should probably head back home.”

Mauro stood up with her and walked by her side until the door of the bakery, where he just waved at her.

“Tomorrow is Saturday so no school,” he said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, “I think you earned yourself a chill day.”

“I guess,” she smiled a little “thank you, Mauro.”

Mauro smiled back and took a few steps back, “if you want to meet, you have my number.”

Marinette actually rolled her eyes as she waved him off and entered her home, greeting her mom on the way to her room where she fell on her bed, her body heavy as lead.

“A chill day huh,” she mumbled to the pillow, her eyelids closing with each second “that would be…”

The last word came out as garbled noise, exhaustion finally overtaking the girl as she fell asleep, with no nightmares to cause her harm.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the next chapters I think I will add some tags since they are important. Nothing trigger warning, just plot related.  
> Thank you for reading!


	4. Open your eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroine is feeling better after a cathartic release of emotions. But it is now time to go on and make tough decisions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so thankful everyone who comments or kudos like, wow, I'm speechless.  
> However, tomorrow I go back to work so updates will be (and I will try my best) around every 2 to 3 days.  
> There were also some tag changes, just as warning.  
> Also let me clarify from now: I do NOT hate any character. I think I said it already but I say it again. Please don't think I do by how they are mentioned in the chapter.  
> Enjoy!

Saturdays were meant to wake up without an alarm, enjoy the laziness of being in pyjamas until noon and ignore responsibilities for at least a couple of hours. Maybe watching reruns of shows or play videogames for a while. Go out with friends or a date to the park, the movies, and any fun activity to do in a group.

Marinette woke up, stretched her arms and rubbed her eyes, greeted by a clear day and a cool breeze coming from the hatch of her rooftop.

"Hnngh" she yawned, smiling when Tikki flew towards her with a smile on her own "good morning Tikki."

"Good afternoon you mean" Tikki pointed at her phone where Marinette glanced at it, eyes widening in surprise. It was past noon and she had slept soundly. Her eyes felt a little puffy but out of that, she felt good. Her mind, while still reminiscing of last events, wasn't clouded by the pressure in her chest.

"Oh, oh I overslept a lot,"

"You needed the rest," Tikki said while Marinette walked to her bathroom "how are you feeling today?"

"I feel better?" Marinette smiled at the kwami, following her routine to prepare for the day "I feel… like I can take over the world."

She laughed at that, washing her face and checking her reflection on the mirror. Her eyes weren't red from the crying but she did have the pillow mark still on her cheek, her hair a tangled mess of strands popping out of her loose pigtails.

She took a shower, enjoying the scent of vanilla and roses as she did, humming while she dried off and fixed her hair, coming out at last in a fresh set of clothes. She grabbed her phone and went downstairs to find her mom in the kitchen, sipping some tea as she watched the news.

"Oh good afternoon Marinette," she smiled as her daughter gave her a kiss on the cheek "how are you feeling darling?"

"I feel good maman" Marinette smiled "sorry I overslept I-"

"Marinette," her mother put her mug down, "it is alright, and the school must have been really difficult this week, wasn't it?"

"I uh," Marinette sat down next to her mom, taking a fruit from the bowl to eat "yes, it was rough."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

And she did. At least the parts that she could tell without revealing her as Ladybug. She told Sabine about how her classmates had pushed her aside, how they hadn't taken into consideration her feelings about the seat arrangement, how upset she had got at Alya for diminishing her feelings. She almost stopped herself from sharing Lila's threats, but Marinette knew it was best to tell her mom that.

"And I know you want me to go to the principal for this," she said when she noticed Sabine's frown "but if I go, everyone will side with her."

"I understand," Sabine said after a sigh, taking Marinette's hands in hers and squeezing them tight "and you are very brave to want to face this. I don't want you to feel lonely when they were such nice people, and if I could I would bring them all down with a good sermon."

Marinette chuckled at that.

"What about Adrien? Wouldn't he still be on your side? Help you clarify things with Alya?"

"Ah, no, I-I mean" Marinette looked down, "he said that as long as he and I know the truth, it doesn't really matter? Because if I called her out Lila would get akumatized and people would get hurt."

To Marinette's surprise, Sabine frowned even more, holding Marinette by the shoulders so she would look at her.

"And weren't you hurt by her lies? Sweetie, emotional hurt is also getting hurt."

"I mean yes but,"

"Adrien is a sweet boy," Sabine said "and I know how you feel about him Marinette. To have your first crush, your first love so passionate is a beautiful feeling, but that doesn't mean he is perfect in everything he does or say."

Marinette had started to feel her cheeks warm up at the mention of 'love' and 'feelings' mixed with Adrien in the sentence, but it was as if the air in her lungs had vanished. She didn't think Adrien was perfect, did she?

"Maybe you should tell him that the next time you see him," Sabine said, "your feelings are also important Marinette."

Marinette nodded and hugged her mom, relieved when Sabine hugged her and patted her head, reassuring her that things were going to be alright.

"Thanks, maman,"

"Always honey," she smiled at her daughter "so what will you do today? It is a nice day to go out."

"I think I'll go find some inspiration" Marinette smiled, glad they had changed the subject "I've been meaning to start a new project but a fresh view would be nice."

"That sounds lovely,"

Marinette kissed her mom's cheek again and went to fetch her things, waving at her on the way out. She took a deep breath out of the bakery and made her way to wherever her feet wanted to go.

The day was nice, a clear sky and fresh breeze that caused lots of people to go out and enjoy the day. She passed by a crêperie and bought one to share with Tikki as she walked, careful to sneak bits to the kwami in her purse.

When she realized, she was by the river, where she finally took a seat on an empty bench and pulled out her sketchbook, tapping the pencil against the paper, waiting for an idea to form in her mind.

Yet as she hummed and traced lines, she couldn't help but to remember her mother's advice. Maybe, just maybe, she had been putting Adrien on a pedestal. And she did have his schedule memorized, the many photos on her walls that had been –she frowned- broadcasted on live television. She had stolen his phone for crying out loud.

"Maybe my mom is right," Marinette sighed, putting the pencil down and pulling out her phone. There were no new messages nor notifications, and for a moment Marinette thought about calling any from her contact list, to have someone either confirm or deny the advice she had just received.

She didn't think much as she pressed the call button, receiving an answer after three beeps.

"So much for a chill day,"

"Hello to you too Mauro" Marinette called as she poked the paper with the pencil, "I did wake up way later than usual but I wanted to get some fresh air."

"That's not so bad," Marinette couldn't hear much on Mauro's side of the phone, "I myself have been getting to know the town's este…, the…how do you call them? The things that look like a snail shell, like district and all,"

"Arrondissements?"

"That, but if you have a better suggestion, I'm all ears,"

Marinette mused about it. Yesterday had been proof enough for her to trust Mauro, but even then, she still felt as if she had her guard up.

"You say you know my story,"

"Yep,"

"Then you know about my f…" she closed her eyes and took a deep breath "my feelings for Adrien."

There was a loud honk on the other side of the line, followed by Mauro muttering something in Spanish.

"Yes, I am very well aware of your feelings for pan Bimbo,"

"What did you call him?"

"I mean Adrien," he said "since this is a phone call I guessed you wouldn't want me shouting it all over the street," he sighed, and Marinette heard the sound of water, making her turn to see if he was around the area "I really hope this is not a 'can I know what he feels' kind of call-"

"What? No, it's not about that-"

"-because Denial ain't just a river in Egypt."

Marinette put the phone away from her face and stared at it for a long time, put it back on her ear and groaned so loud it made Mauro laugh.

"How dare you also use puns?"

"In my defense, I did not make that one, Mark Twain did," Mauro said after he finished laughing "but if Bim- Adrien is the next step on your list, then we can work something out."

"Why denial?" she squinted "answer me that first."

"Do I really have to?"

Marinette heard it his voice out of the phone and looked up to find Mauro walking down the stairs, unaware of her presence. She hung up, grabbed her things and walked towards him before he could notice the call had ended.

"Bur- oh hey," he said, "I guess this is a I do have to answer."

"Yes, also why do you dislike Adrien so much?"

"Dislike is a strong word" Mauro shrugged "and I don't dislike him. I just think the boy needs to seriously grow a spine."

Marinette frowned.

"I will tell him," she squared her shoulders "how his advice is not helpful, and how I'm the one who got hurt out of Lila's lies."

Mauro smiled.

"That's good to hear, and maybe that'll make him learn at last."

Marinette returned the smile, but then frowned as she remembered who she was talking to.

"You didn't have anything to do with my morning, did you?"

"Nope," Mauro showed his hands, clean from ink, as well as his clothes "why? Did you come to a revelation of your own?"

Marinette mentioned about her chat with her mom, the advice she had given her, earning a noise of agreement from Mauro.

"Your mom is wise and she cares a whole lot about you" Mauro smiled at her "and I reaffirm, I had nothing to do with it; that was all you."

"I just had to be sure of it,"

"I understand" he pulled out a folded paper from his pants and opened it up, blank for Marinette to see "but part of my deal for you is that I will not intervene unless you agree for me to do so, that was all Marinette Dupain-Cheng magic, but back to your boy."

"He's not…" Marinette sighed "I'm guessing you agree with what she said."

"Oh a hundred percent," Mauro nodded, putting the paper back in his pocket "I would listen to your mother that knows about romance than me on this one. I only see the facts."

"So…does that mean I should just give up on my crush? "

"What? No, no ok," he rubbed his eyes and sighed "I was hoping not to get in romance tangles," he put his hands together, like he was about to pray and stayed quiet for a moment, leaving Marinette confused as to what was going on.

"No one but you gets to decide that," he tried again "remember the 'not wanting to manipulate' part? I'm still very much on board with that plan,"

"Then I don't understand," Marinette groaned "Monday will arrive and I won't know what to do, Lila will keep lying about everything and everyone else will either go to her side or remain silent."

"Then have your allies back" Mauro sighed "for me to create a scenario where everyone gets a happy ending? That would take me days, and this is your story Marinette,"

"You've said that already, and the only ally I have is you."

"What about cat boy?"

Marinette frowned at him.

"Let me guess, you have something against him too."

"Not going to lie, Chat is a lot of times a good partner to Ladybug," Mauro said, "sure he does take the hit a lot, possessed and what not but when it goes down to it, he is there for you."

"I'm sensing a but in your next sentence,"

"However" Mauro grinned, earning an eye roll from Marinette "you have to admit he gets his personal feelings too much in the way and that has compromised your missions, more than once."

Marinette thought back on the times that had happened. Two times to be exact. And in both, she had been the one to apologize for…

Apologize for what? For having her own feelings? For putting the safety of Paris over a problem that could have been solved in another place at another time?

"I should really talk to that cat," Marinette frowned, her foot tapping against the concrete "but that doesn't answer why you brought him up as an ally."

"Ok, the next part is tricky" he pointed at her purse "because you more likely will say no and fair is fair, but by this point of the game? I think it's best to stop having so many secrets."

"You can't tell me Chat Noir's identity" Marinette gasped, her purse revealing Tikki's worried eyes "that… that would be bad! We need to keep them safe, a secret to protect each other-"

"I know how that works Marinette," Mauro sighed, taking his pen and the paper he had folded, writing down as he spoke "Spider-man does it, Batman does it, and lots of super heroes do it," he scratched a word out, "but some of those heroes that are allies? Between them they know, they can help each other out."

"It wouldn't be fair for me to know and him to remain oblivious," Marinette countered back at him, Mauro shaking his head in response.

"I'm not blatantly telling you, you are figuring it out on your own," Mauro put the pen away and offered the paper not to Marinette but to Tikki that was observing from her purse "if there's a way to get you more allies on this fight? Then this is a risk you should consider taking."

"Would this mean he will figure it out?" Tikki asked and Mauro tried hard not to wince at the question.

"I mean he could try?" his voice went a little high, causing Marinette to raise an eyebrow "Chat Noir out of the mask…he's not that observant so, I would say it is a 40-60 situation."

Marinette looked down at Tikki who had a pensive expression as she read, then moved to Marinette's eyesight so she could read it. There was no name in the paragraph, as the others had been, but Marinette still felt a sense of nervousness creeping on her.

"What if this changes for worse?"

"Worst case scenario? I do a cheap out of 'and then they lost their memories' or something like that" Mauro shrugged "I can give you time to decide, or to say you don't want to, figure another way to solve this out-"

"No," Marinette held the paper and looked at Tikki, who just nodded in approval "like you said, you are not telling me, who knows, maybe I won't get to figure it out."

Mauro took the paper back and checked once more everything was in order.

"Are you sure?"

"Most entirely" Marinette squared her shoulders "come on."

"All right," he cleared his throat and, after checking one last time at Marinette's face, proceeded to read out loud.

" _They say the best way to hide a tree is to put it in a forest. Hidden in plain sight. For our heroine, the constant presence of her partner was like that, hidden in the most obvious of places. Magic wasn't the only thing protecting her identity, it was also the heart that played its part in avoiding the dots, the connections._

_Yet enough was enough. The heroine needed to unfold the blind from her eyes. It was time for her to stand up and discover that the answer to who her masked ally, her confidant and partner, the name of the boy who had helped her so much, fought by her side, stood up to her as equal… it was time for her to realise… she had known the name for a long time._

_It was time for the heroine to find the tree. It was time for the heroine to open her eyes."_


	5. On the other side of the river

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just what was going through Adrien's mind that day?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all thank you so much for the kudos, as well as comments. I love those and reading your opinion.  
> Second, sorry for the delay, long story short I got sick real bad and that left me ko'd 2 days.  
> Third, this chapter was so hard to pull through, but I will jump back to Marinette afterwards, sooo enjoy!

Adrien felt a shiver ran down his spine so fast he almost tripped on his feet and fell face first into the concrete. Luckily for him, he had just stumbled a few steps and regained enough balance to compose himself, not without smiling a little embarrassed at the little girl on the other side of the street that had seen him and had giggled as if he had done it on purpose.

"What was that?" Adrien looked around him once the coast was clear, thinking something was about to attack him, but the only presence he could feel was him and Plagg's "what is going on?"

Plagg didn't answer right away, savouring the piece of cheese in his paws as he looked up from his hideout in Adrien's shirt. Adrien frowned and kept walking towards the Dupain-Cheng bakery. He had been a little worried over Marinette, and now that he had felt that strange feeling four times? Well, he was allowed to say his nerves were getting the best of him.

And it had all begun that Friday morning.

He had arrived at school like any other day, glad that Lila was nowhere near the entrance as he went inside when something felt like washing over him, followed by a strange scent of burning paper.

"Was that my imagination?" Adrien asked Plagg once he had secured their privacy in the lockers room "or is there something wrong?"

"I don't know what you are talking about kid" Plagg shook his head, trying to ignore Adrien's frown. The kid could be perceptive when he really focused but out of that? Plagg was beyond surprised how dense Adrien was.

"Are you sure? Because I could have-" he heard the door open and urged Plagg to hide in his shirt, just as Alya entered.

"Hey Adrien, thought you were in the classroom by now" she waved as she went to her locker "are you trying to hide behind a locker to surprise Marinette?"

"What?" Adrien held the strap of his bag before it fell out of his shoulder "that was one time I promise."

"Hmhm" she turned to him "well, it would be a lot of waiting, you know her already."

"Yeah, I mean, wait," Adrien knew he was not going to get a chance to speak with Plagg until lunch at that point, so might as well tag along with Alya to the classroom "we don't know why she's usually late,"

"Probably overslept from working all night on a design" Alya waved her hand dismissively "which I understand, I have skipped hours of sleep to update the Lady blog."

"Right," Adrien nodded, walking with Alya through the courtyard, but he couldn't get a chance to sneak up to the classroom when someone held his arm and sneaked arms around his.

"Oh, Adrien!" Lila's saccharine voice reached his ears and he almost broke his face to show a wince "I thought I wasn't going to see you before class."

"Oh, hey Lila," Adrien tried to keep his tone calm, looking at Alya for help but the blogger had turned in that time to look at Nino who was waving at them "we are just going to class."

He tried to emphasize the 'we' in the sentence but Lila paid no mind, giggling as she walked with Adrien to the stairs. They were the last two to arrive and Adrien could feel everyone staring at the two of them, even Chloé who, surprisingly to him, didn't stand up to throw a fit at him.

Oh, everything he would give for that to happen right now if it meant to be free from Lila's grasp.

Adrien had spared a glance at Marinette, but her face was unreadable to him. She kept a blank stare and a thin line for a mouth he wanted to say something, greet her to show he wanted to hear her when Mme. Bustier called for them to go to their seats.

Adrien wanted to rub his arm, finally free from Lila's grasp, earning a glance from Nino who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow as he tossed him a folded paper.

'Dude, you two dating?'

Adrien almost lost his composure at that moment. He took Nino's pen to write a big marked 'no!' on it, adding 'we are NOT dating.'

He made sure to underline it to emphasize it as he passed it to him, his friend humming as he moved to write something to reply, but the arrival of the principal caused both of them to look up. He had not paid attention at all to anything that had been said.

Just then, a boy arrived at the class and Adrien felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as the same feeling washed over him. He turned to look at the class and grinned, but Adrien knew somehow the smile was not at them. In fact, it was directed towards someone behind him…

"If you need anything, our class representative Marinette can assist you."

Adrien turned to look at Marinette but she was focused on the new guy, her expression unfaltering as he moved up the stairs and to the back of the class. She didn't turn to look at Adrien when he noticed her looking at her phone instead and he frowned.

Maybe it had been a coincidence, but as he turned back to listen to the class, twice was a coincidence, if it happened a third time in such a short time? He'd have reasons to be suspicious.

"Dude, you ok?" Nino bumped his shoulder and Adrien nodded at him with a small smile. He couldn't just throw his concern like that after all.

"Yeah, just, a little tired," he said just as many of the students stood up at once, all calling out to Lila "what the,"

"I think it is for a group project" Nino shrugged "but you know we can always work on it together man,"

Adrien smiled with relief, only for his shoulders to sag at Lila's words about him being such a good candidate to help her out. He wanted to refuse right there, he really did, but with everyone's attention going from her to him, it was proving to be more difficult than he thought.

But between the chatter, he caught the voice of someone new talking behind him, and he turned just enough to catch a glimpse of the new guy, Mauro, speaking with Marinette.

"I again, apologize for that," Adrien heard him say and the rest was drowned out form the noise, but he saw Marinette's face frowning and nodding and that was his cue to turn back his attention to the front to avoid being caught.

Did they already know each other? Adrien hadn't heard of the guy up until today and Marinette hadn't mentioned about a friend of hers coming to the school. And didn't the principal say he wasn't even from France?

Mme. Bustier called their attention, and Adrien sighed as Lila again asked for him to be his partner, right in front of everyone. He had agreed to after looking at his teacher, giving Nino what could almost pass as a covered up pout.

What caught him by surprise, again, was when Marinette said she would work with the new guy. He could hear Alya's muttering and Marinette so calm but was cut short when Nino offered to work with Alya, resuming to pair up the rest of the class.

Adrien's curiosity was increasing at that point. It didn't help that he could practically feel a sort of tension from behind him. Between Lila's staring at him and the unusual silence from the girls, he could feel it was not going to be a good day.

He almost sagged when the bell announcing lunch rang, smiling at Nino who turned to see Alya and Marinette.

"How about we all go to the library? That way we can start as a group and help each other out?"

Adrien could hug his bro right there. That way he was not going to be stuck with Lila, have back up if needed and maybe set a barrier between them to actually work on it. He was about to act as third in agreeing to it when his phone beeped, a message from Nathalie for him to come home for lunch.

But… hadn't he been told he could spend it at school so he could get a head start on his assignments?

He apologized as he grabbed his things, knowing it was best to just go than ask for a reason. Adrien could hear Lila's voice calling after him, which just made him hurry his steps towards the car that was really waiting for him, dropping his bag as he finally leaned on the seat.

"This is too exhausting" Adrien rubbed his eyes "how am I going to deal with Lila for a whole month?"

"You got yourself in this mess" Plagg muttered from inside his shirt "you can get yourself out of it."

Adrien frowned, even more, when he arrived home to realize there had been a mix up in his schedule and he wasn't supposed to come back that day, leaving him both relieved from avoiding Lila to upset from leaving his friends behind.

It hadn't helped that when he had just finished eating something, the same weird feeling washed over him as the water from his cup started to taste like seawater, making him spill it out and forcing him to get a different shirt.

"If I were you I would focus on more important things," Plagg said after his third piece of Camembert while looking at Adrien frowning at his computer "like the short stack of cheese we are having."

"You still have the full cabinet Plagg" Adrien sighed, "I think that should do."

"Fine then, worry about the new kid instead."

Adrien looked at the kwami and moved closer to him.

"So there IS something weird going on."

"Well duh," Plagg frowned, "I thought you would have picked up on it,"

"I uh, no?" Adrien frowned "I just had a weird feeling in the morning and then when he showed up."

"Like magic washed over you?"

"But I've felt that before, when Ladybug uses her Miraculous cure," Adrien crossed his arms "this felt different, as uhm, well it just had a weird feeling."

"Kid, your observation skills seriously need an upgrade."

Adrien frowned and grabbed his bag, as it was time to head back to school.

He tried to find the new kid around but he was already in the classroom, smiling as he read an old book, with Marinette sketching something on her desk, but Adrien could tell her expression had changed a little like she was a little more relieved. Maybe he could ask her about it at the end of the day.

And yet, the opportunity didn't happen, since the new guy had arrived to take her away.

"That guy…" Adrien muttered, almost letting Nino hear him.

His day had not gone at all like he had hoped it to be, and even on his way home, he has washed yet again with a wave of that magical feeling, only that it was even stronger. It felt as if someone had just crushed his heart, his eyes watering without a reason.

"What…" Adrien was beyond perplexed at this point. He figured if it was the work of an akuma, then Ladybug would have been on action already. But the night sky was clear of his red and black partner, which only cause his frustration to grow.

"Plagg, claws out!" he called and as soon as the green magic engulfed him, he was out of his room and jumping across the rooftops, searching for anything that looked out of the ordinary. Any person, situation, any mark or something that would give him a hint, but things were all looking like a regular Parisian night.

Chat Noir grumbled as he jumped to another roof, frustrated he hadn't found a single thing out of the ordinary.

Which left him to the next day, as he walked towards the Dupain-Cheng bakery after spending most of the morning in a photoshoot. But just as he had crossed the bridge, just a few blocks away from his destination, an explosion from behind made him turn around.


	6. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magic works in how it is asked. Ladybug will find that what she needs will not always be what she wants

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like I can push two chapters during the weekend so you guys don't have to wait too much. Hope you like this one!

Marinette didn't feel any different after the last word was spoken. She looked around but nothing had changed. In a sense, she felt a little disappointed about it. Mauro seemed to notice it in her face, since he folded the paper and stuffed it in his jeans. He sighed and shrugged at her.

"Give it time," he said, "it's not that it will fall from the sky or something like that…although that would have been pretty cool."

"But everything seems so… normal," she frowned "are you sure it worked?"

Mauro held a hand to his chest and stretched his other arm to stop her, closing his eyes and lowering his head.

"Marinette, now you have wounded me," he said, a little too dramatic, which made Marinette stifle a giggle "how dare you to doubt of my humble magic after being the first witness of it. Now I shall return to my home, ask my great grandfather Mo to forgive me for failing in my abilities."

"Ok, settle down," she couldn't help but to laugh at Mauro's exaggerating "What I mean is that, well, the last times they had a little more,"

"Badazz? Enchantment?" he smiled but then just shrugged "I guess for this specific situation you have to see the cat boy so,"

"Oh," Marinette nodded, understanding what he was going for "then it would have to be until we patrol this night."

"Yep, it doesn't happen like" he snapped his fingers "unless there's an explosion or something like that happ-"

His words were cut short as a loud explosion startled them both, soon followed by police sirens and people screaming as they ran away from where it had happened.

Marinette frowned at Mauro.

"Ok… I did not do that!"

"You just said it!"

" _Said_  is not the same as  _read_!" Mauro exclaimed but Marinette was already looking around to be completely sure no one was going to see her transform.

"Spots on!" she called, allowing the pink magic to engulf her.

"Huh," Mauro crossed his arms as Ladybug showed up in front of him "it does look different from an outside point of view."

"I am not going to ask about that" Ladybug took her yoyo out and threw it to a nearby post so she could swing towards the commotion "now let's go."

"W-wait what?" Mauro crossed his arms "why would I go there? I'm a civilian!"

Ladybug squinted at him.

"Forget it no, I'm not being Mary Jane'd in this" he crossed his arms, but Ladybug gave a step closer towards him that made him groan and give up fast. "Ok! Fine, but just this time."

He walked towards her, yelping when she pulled him close and swung away. They landed on a building higher than any other around, giving Ladybug a good view of the commotion. The explosion had been caused by an akuma –she was not surprised at that- but from where she was standing there was no debris nor fire. Instead, there were hundreds of confetti pieces covering the street in a horrible mix of bright colours.

"I AM THE CLESTER! I WILL MAKE ALL OF YOU REGRET MAKING FUN OF THE NOBLE ART OF CLOWNS!"

"That…is so lame" Mauro snorted next to Ladybug who had to agree with him on that one, but kept her expression serious, "I mean, so this is a possessed person."

"Akumatized but yes," Ladybug said, "you think you can make sure no one gets hurt or in the way?"

"What, like giving you a force field?" Mauro grinned "I can do that, but wouldn't you want cat boy to help you out in this?"

"Of course" she smiled and pointed to the other side "he's just getting here, can I count on you with this? Only the safety Mauro, not the fight. I don't want you threading with the akuma when Hawkmoth is already in their minds."

"I'll do my best" Mauro saluted and pulled out another piece of paper from his pockets "go on Ladybug."

She actually grinned at him and jumped from the rooftop towards the clester –she did snort at Hawkmoth's lack of originality- where she avoided a bomb of confetti flying towards her, giving her enough time to hide behind a car to look at the akuma closer.

"Good afternoon my lady" Chat crouched next to her "it seems we have a funny business today."

Ladybug turned to look at her partner and the words got stuck in her mouth. Had Chat always had those bright green eyes? She blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't imagining things but no, there he was, his goofy smile diminishing with each second that passed, but Ladybug couldn't shake the feeling she had looked at those eyes plenty of times before, without the mask. Oh now was not the time for the magic words to take effect.

"Ah, sorry, what did you say?"

"Are you alright Ladybug?" he asked with concern.

"Y-yeah, I just, a weird déjà vu or something" Ladybug frowned and looked up to find the akuma. This was seriously not the time for the words to take into action. She needed to focus on the akuma, have an identity crisis after.

Suddenly above them, a series of strings began to form, covering a good ratio of the street like a dome, all in red and white stripes until only they and the akuma were inside it, with lights reflecting around just like the inside of a circus tent.

Ladybug groaned, covering her face with a hand. She was beginning to believe the over dramatism was not part of Mauro's magic, but Mauro's sense of humour.

"Wow, ok this akuma came with everything," Chat whistled as he saw the carp, but Ladybug saw he hadn't said it with the same light humour. In fact, his shoulders looked tense, too tense for a standard akuma fight. Had he caught on the spells? Come to think of it, had Mauro appeared before Chat Noir up to this point? She had completely forgotten to ask.

"Shall we then?"

"Of course Chat" Ladybug shook her head. She needed to focus on the battle. But just as Chat smiled at her and propelled forward with his baton, Ladybug felt something flutter in her chest. That smile was also very familiar, but now it was also a little painful to receive it. Why was that?

She went towards the action, where Chat Noir was already dodging bombs of confetti and serpentines that left more and more of them on the street that it reached Ladybug's ankles by the time she arrived.

The akuma turned towards her and threw another colourful bomb she deflected with ease. His outfit was so tacky the designer in her had it difficult not to frown at the clashing of colours and patterns. The sleeves had polka dots on one side and stripes on the other. One side of the puffy pants was checker while the other had neon swirls. The only thing that wasn't mismatched was the ribbon on the clester's neck, a big bright red ribbon.

"The akuma must be in the ribbon Chat!"

"Got it!" Chat dodged another confetti bomb, extending his baton to jump on the clester and try to fetch it, but the akuma dodged with what looked like a shield made out of balloons. Ladybug went around them, relying on swinging across the lamp posts since the confetti had already reached their knees.

Chat dodged another bomb of confetti, also noticing the amount on the ground and relying on his baton to stay above it. He summoned his Cataclysm after looking the slight nod from Ladybug and launched himself towards the clester who had turned his attention at the heroine tossing her yo-yo at him, giving Chat plenty of space to graze the ribbon.

To their feet was left a man in a simple clown costume, confused about his surroundings as it had always happened with akumatized victims. Ladybug caught and purified the akuma, landing next to Chat Noir who was already waiting with his fist up for her to pound.

But as she did so, a wave of nostalgia washed over her.

"Are you alright Bugaboo?"

"I-" she looked around and remembered she hadn't had the need to call for her Lucky Charm, and the carp above them was starting to fade. She called it instead of answering to Chat, catching what looked like a friendship bracelet.

One very similar to the one Adrien had given her on her birthday…

"Ladybug?"

Ladybug turned to look at Chat and her breath got stuck in her throat. The hair, the eyes, they were all too familiar now. Of course, they were, she had seen them plenty of times, had then pasted on her walls, she saw them every single day at school.

How had she not see it before? Ok, yes the magic veil and that they acted so, but so different with and without the mask. But she was looking at the boy of her dreams, the guy she had been crushing on for a long time and who she had also, ironically, rejected his advances because she already was in love…with him.

"W-we need to talk," was all Ladybug managed to say, tossing the bracelet to the air to call the miraculous cure and clean all the confetti around them "meet me in our usual spot, fifteen minutes."

She didn't give Chat time to answer as she swung out of sight, turning around buildings towards the one she had left Mauro, who was currently looking at her confused.

"What is it?"

Marinette de transformed and gave Tikki a cookie from her purse, the actions so mechanical she didn't notice until she was pacing in front of Mauro, her hands moving frantically in front of her while Tikki floated next to the boy to eat as she let her chosen put the pieces together.

"Have you interacted with Chat Noir as well?" she asked Mauro who shook his head.

"No way, he is way more difficult to reach and…oh, you are figuring him out already."

"It… it just, it doesn't make sense," she kept saying "but the more I think about it the more I see him and I see Chat and they are so different from the other!"

"I'm guessing she figured it out?" Mauro looked at Tikki "Chat Noir's identity?"

"Our magic is still strong enough but it appears to be," Tikki said, "if Marinette says the name then she will truly see his identity."

Marinette didn't pay attention to any of them, her eyes wandering from one side to another, remembering as much as she could. The dots were connecting before her, but the feeling in her chest was increasing because the disbelief had transformed into frustration.

"Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir," she said, at last, stopping on her tracks.

The world didn't fall apart around her, the sky was still blue, and the building hadn't collapsed under her feet. She was still breathing –albeit a little faster than usual-, she was physically intact. And yet, she turned to Mauro and Tikki who looked at her with concern, and yet she felt that everything around her had changed.

"Am… am I right?" she looked at them, a soft gasp escaping her lips when both nodded, reaffirming what she had said "oh…oh my," she sat next to Mauro, her legs suddenly weak to keep her standing "how could I not see it before? The charisma, the silly jokes, the hair! The eyes! But they acted so differently."

"You said with me it was easy to figure it out because we are similar," Marinette looked at Mauro "but Chat Noir…I mean, Adrien, I mean" she sighed "there are so many things that don't… don't fit in his personality."

"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person," Mauro sighed "give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Marinette wanted to glare at him, frustration slowly transforming to something else because he had made this happen. But Mauro looked calm, unfazed at her tone as he looked at her, palms up to show he didn't mean to hurt her.

"It means," Mauro said, looking directly at Marinette "that sometimes, being behind a mask can give some people certain freedom of being who they truly are."

Marinette's anger faded away as she looked at the Eiffel tower, the place where she was going to meet Chat, no, Adrien in less than ten minutes. The more she thought about it, the more sense it made to her. Adrien lived under his father's shadow, a shadow of perfection and properness that didn't allow the wild, the fun part of Chat to shine.

"I guess so," she had a small hint of a smile "oh I have to tell him I know, this means he can totally understand how I couldn't return his feelings…"

A pang hit her in her heart as she said it out loud.

"Why…should I feel bad for not accepting his feelings as Ladybug?" she muttered, tears forming in her eyes.

"Huh?"

"Why should I feel bad for rejecting his feelings?" Marinette stood up and exclaimed a little too loud "I had told him I had feelings for someone else and I thought he would respect that but then he" she hiccupped "he tried again and then I had to apologize?!"

"Wow, Marinette," Mauro looked at Tikki who flew fast towards her chosen to try and calm her down "Marinette calm down, you don't have magic to keep you away from-"

"I know" Marinette tried to breathe, looking at Tikki as she guided her through her breathing exercises until she calmed down enough, all of them glancing around to check no purple butterflies had lurked around "but…am I wrong?"

"On what? Feeling bad? Of course not!" Mauro exclaimed, "you are in all your right to feel upset about this Marinette."

"What am I going to do," she looked at the tower "I have to go see him and what am I going to do?"

"What is best for Marinette right now," Mauro said "Marinette, nothing takes away that he is your partner in this and he is your friend… but friends make mistakes and in this case, he HAS to realize how many mistakes he has done and be accounted for them."

She nodded, looking at Tikki who smiled and encouraged her more. Marinette breathed deeply and called her transformation, the suit giving her an extra shot of confidence she so desperately needed.

"I'm going to use the emergency exit to get down," Mauro pointed at the door on the other side "and Ladybug?" he looked at her before she swung away "it's going to be alright."

"Thanks," was all she said as she jumped, swinging towards the Eiffel Tower, about to have one of the most difficult conversations in her short life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry -kinda- for another cliffhanger.  
> But hey! Next chapter will be a bomb if you catch my drift.


	7. Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reveals, chats, emotions gone wild.  
> Oh and some lessons to be learned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy late Valentine's Day!  
> Here is a new chapter.  
> Also to clarify, again, I really don't hate Adrien.  
> I hate how the show wants to portray him.  
> Learn from your mistakes damn it.

 

Maybe it was because there were way more important things in her mind, or just how unaffected she had been on the pass of time, but Ladybug hadn't noticed it was late evening when she set foot on the top of the Eiffel tower.

The sky had turned a pinkish orange, soon to be covered in black with the lights of the city illuminating their surroundings, and in any other situation, in any other moment, Ladybug would have enjoyed the scenery before her, if it weren't for the conversation she was about to have.

Oh, she should have asked Mauro for another magic shield, there were going to be lots of negative emotions coming towards them. She shook her head and focused on her landing instead. Her mind, her heart, both were a swirl of thoughts and emotions it was too much to bear with. She was happy and sad, excited and afraid. But most of all, she was hopeful and so, so upset.

"Ah! Ladybug I thought you had forgotten," Chat greeted her with a bow, like he used to do, his ears dropping when he saw her expression "Ladybug?"

"Something happened," she started with that, keeping her eyes focused on him. With the suit and the mask on, it was a little easier to talk to him, but even if it was still Adrien underneath all that black, she was feeling her tongue twisting in her mouth.

"You felt it too? Oh, I'm so glad I thought I was going paranoid and- "

Wait, what?

"And during the fight, I was unsure it was  _that_  or the akuma but we should really find out where this is coming from."

"What are you talking about?"

"The weird magic," he said "like someone is washing me with this odd sensation and it's happened a lot in the last two days…" he looked at her, frowning when she didn't ask more about it "you…you haven't felt anything?"

Ah, he probably meant the silver tongue's magic. Ladybug had indeed felt it, had seen the magic Chat Noir was talking about. And Chat Noir didn't know because Mauro had said he never spoke with Chat Noir before since he was more difficult to reach. And that was because Adrien was difficult to contact unless it was at school and that hadn't happened on Friday and that was why Chat was so confused.

So many pieces falling into place they were certainly giving her the beginning of a migraine.

"It's… that's not what we need to talk about right now," she shook her head. She was going to explain it to him, maybe introduce him to Mauro. He was willing to help her, he would probably try to help Chat as well.

"What? Ladybug what if it's something dangerous?"

"It's not-"

"How do you know that?" Chat frowned, crossing his arms as he looked at her "is this another secret you are keeping away from me?"

"What? No," she glared at him "I want to tell you something else first and it's important- "

"Right, what could be more important than this weird thing going on that you kept from-?"

"I figured out your identity!" Ladybug snapped, covering her mouth soon after. Chat had frozen in front of her, his eyes trying to focus on her, but he had faltered on his step, his gasp loud enough for her to listen.

"I know who you are behind the mask Chat Noir," she said again, this time calmer, but her heart was still pounding hard against her chest. No point going back now, she looked at him, at her partner, her crush, her…friend? He still was her friend. Adrien who was the kind guy, yes, but now he also was Adrien the one that hadn't really respected her feelings, Adrien that had done so much good and bad, Adrien who had said it was best for them to keep quiet about the lies rather than support her when she had been tossed aside.

"Are… how…I mean," Chat's voice was nervous, "how did you find out?"

"I…I observed" Ladybug replied, her voice wavering as well "the magic you felt, I felt it too, and it just made me look through you," she couldn't read Chat's face, her heart was beating so hard in her chest she thought he would be able to hear it "and I realized who you are, underneath that mask…you are Adrien Agreste, aren't you?"

Chat stood there, frozen on his spot, green magic engulfing him before her eyes until the sight of her classmate remained there, confirming what she had known. Ladybug wanted to reach to him, make sure this was not an illusion or a dream, but when she took a step she caught sight of their surroundings, the cold air, the faint lights several meters below. They were still on the highest point of the Eiffel tower.

"No!" she pointed at him "why did you de transform?!"

"Y-you already know who I am so- "

"Look where we are!" Ladybug pointed around her "without your transformation what if you fall?!"

Adrien had seen Ladybug tense but this one situation was getting beyond his understanding, especially when she grabbed him by the waist and threw her yo-yo in another direction so they would move to a safer location. He was so dazed by the last seconds he hadn't had time to process that Ladybug was carrying him, not as Chat Noir but as Adrien, and how she had him secured in her arm as they landed on another rooftop.

"There," she frowned once they both were on concrete floor "what were you thinking? That was dangerous!"

"I'm shocked? I'm allowed to be my lady because you blurted out my secret identity and all."

"Y-yes but" she started to pace "oh it was stupid to say it over there but we were getting nowhere with the conversation and," she stopped on her steps. She had to calm down, she needed to be calm, assess the situation and come clear with it.

"Right…you're right" she sighed "I'm sorry for blurting it out like that."

Adrien took a step forward. Out of all times he had seen his Lady nervous and unsure, this one was beginning to be the most confusing. He didn't know whether Ladybug was relieved or disappointed. She hadn't started to talk, instead focusing on her breath and Adrien was starting to feel fear creeping up on him, reaching his throat and mind about to cloud every thought.

"Are you…disappointed it is me?"

Ladybug looked at him and he couldn't tell it in her eyes. They were glistening as if she was holding back tears and he just couldn't tell if they were happy or sad tears. In the back of his mind, he could feel a thought forming, a sense that he had seen those same pair of eyes like that before, but he couldn't grasp at it now, not when Ladybug sighed again, her posture still on guard.

"I'm not," she said at last "to find out you have been the one behind the mask? How could I be?" she chuckled "I mean, I rejected Chat's feelings because of my feelings for Adrien and turns out they are the same guy."

Adrien was starting to smile, Ladybug having feelings for him? He could feel the fluttering surfacing in his stomach, but Ladybug sighed and hugged her arms, her posture still tense as she looked at him.

"But after all that has happened? This actually helped me clear out so many things."

"What do you mean?"

"Adrien…" she started, the words getting stuck in her throat again. She could do this, she had to do this. She didn't want to lose everything tonight as she feared but coming clean was something she had to do.

"I am hurt, by so many things," Ladybug said at last "things you did as Chat Noir, things you did as Adrien… and you need to know that."

Adrien was taken back by that. He had hurt his lady, his Ladybug. And in what she had said she had revealed they knew each other out of the mask. He tried to pinpoint someone, anyone that could be, but his brain was still in the dark. He knew her, he had to, and the name was there, right at the tip of his tongue but it was so difficult to catch.

"This is a nightmare" a new voice came from Adrien's pocket, where Ladybug found a kwami poking their head out and floating to be in front of Ladybug "can you please de transform so he can finally understand this mess?"

"Oh, oh right, yes"

A pink light illuminated the rooftop and Adrien closed his eyes from the brightness, but he didn't open them right away. He was nervous, he had done something bad towards his Lady and apparently, he had done it twice. But he had to open his eyes, be ready to see who was the girl he had fallen for after all this time.

He did, and his heart did a somersault in his chest. Right in front of him was his classmate, the girl that sat behind him in class, the girl that had gone with him as support when he asked Kagami to the ice rink after Ladybug had turned down his feelings.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

So many things were circling in Adrien's head now. All those times, those little moments. The missed opportunities! They had been circling around their feelings, unaware of the irony, the hilarity of their situation! He wanted to laugh at the universe at that moment but even he could tell it wasn't the right time to do so.

"Marinette," even saying her name left sadness in his mouth "oh… Marinette."

Marinette stood in front of him, her eyes sad but no longer teary. In fact, her whole posture was so different from the one Adrien had grown used to see. Gone was the girl that stuttered in front of him and averted her sight. She didn't hunch her shoulders or played nervously with her hands. In fact, she was standing straight, still hugging her arms but her sight was on him, not looking away.

"Hi," she said, moving just to open her purse and fetch a cookie for her kwami, a red small thing that was next to Plagg. The kwamis were at safe distance from the teens, observing the conversation and ready to step in if things got out of hand.

"I-"

"Not what you expected either?"

"No! I mean," Adrien felt weird, it was strange for him to be at loss of words "my feelings they, they haven't changed, and to think it was always you, our everyday Ladybug actually being our Ladybug? I wish I could have figured it out sooner."

"Magic,"

"I know that now," Adrien said, "and I was still so blind to realize it all along."

Marinette's breath got caught in her throat one more time, she was beginning to worry she'd stop breathing at one point.

"But I don't, I don't understand how did I hurt you."

"Adrien," Marinette's voice was soft, unlike what Adrien thought she would answer him to. He thought she would be angry, yell at him like the time she had thought it was him who put gum on her seat.

"When I… rejected you," she said and both felt a pain in their heart "when I first told you about my feelings for someone else, I thought you had understood and that you would respect my feelings."

"And I did,"

"No, Adrien" she looked at the Eiffel tower in the distance "because you asked again, and when I said no, the next time we saw each other to save Paris, you valued more the fact that I didn't reply to your feelings than the safety of Paris."

Adrien remained silent. Of course, he remembered that day. And how in his turmoil he had asked Kagami out on a date. And how he was just so socially inexperienced he had asked Marinette to help him. To think now how Marinette must have felt, with her feelings for him and still supporting him. And what had he done? He now had shown selfishness, caring only about his pained heart than the one he was hurting as well.

"Marinette," Adrien felt fear, fear that he was going to lose her, he had just found out Ladybug had been with him this whole time and now he felt like he was about to be far from her, "I am so sorry, I hurt you and you are right, you are absolutely right."

"This is not about being right Adrien,"

"But you are! I was insensitive, I was upset and didn't act correctly on it," Adrien closed his eyes and clenched his fists, trying to regain his breath. He could not crumble with this. He had to calm down and breathe.

"I have…" he started again "no excuse for how I acted, I did you wrong and I have to work to fix it."

Marinette didn't know what to say. She hadn't expected Adrien to react like that. A small part of her had feared he would try to do something else, to look for her to forgive him right away. Maybe they could really work things out after all.

"I suppose the ice rink was where I hurt you as Marinette?"

"No," ah, there it was. The reason this had all come to a reveal between them. Marinette remembered the words of her mother, the words of Tikki and Mauro as she squared her shoulders; "remember Thursday, when you said it was best to 'take the high road' and not uncover Lila's lies?"

"I do, because if she got hurt then she would be akumatized too and-"

"I got hurt that day Adrien,"

Adrien's eyes widened. Had it been during the fight? Had someone done something to her? She didn't look injured or anything of the like.

"How…?"

"Emotional hurt is also getting hurt," Marinette said, holding a hand to where her heart was "I don't know what made our classmates, our friends? Push me to the back that day, or that no one believed me, after what they, what you all have said? You said it a moment ago, that I am their everyday Ladybug… and they just tossed me aside the moment Lila arrives."

"I-"

"No, Adrien please" she sighed "let me continue… I was so hurt that day, and many things I could have said to reveal Lila was lying, but it would have exposed my identity as Ladybug. And yet what hurt more was that no one stood by my side. You said we should be considerate of Lila's feelings and I understand that Adrien, no one deserves to be humiliated or hurt… but you, again, didn't consider mine."

It was as if a knife had been pierced in Adrien's chest. It hurt, everything inside him hurt after those words. He thought it was the right thing to do, that Lila's lies would come undone on their own, but if he had paid more attention if he had just asked, observed better.

"Adrien?"

"How could I been so insensitive?" he gasped, tears forming in his eyes "I let you down, I have let you down so much-"

The feeling of magic washed over him again, pulling him out of his anguish as a swarm of ladybugs surrounded them, their shine illuminating the small space between them. Adrien's eyes widened the warmth of the magic surrounding him and a strange feeling of reassurance reaching his chest.

"What-"

"Oh," Marinette couldn't help but smile as she looked at the shield forming around her "guess he was aware something like this would happen."

"This is the magic that-"

"Yes," Marinette sighed as she took deep breaths. Talking had made things clearer in her mind, but she could tell Adrien was anguished, and even if she knew he had to take responsibility of his own actions, they just couldn't let him be akumatized.

"Oh no, that would have been a disaster," a new voice said from behind Adrien he spun so fast his feet stumbled on themselves "and I my daily quota is up so I highly suggest you get on with it wonder boy, let it all out so you can pull yourself together."

Adrien recognized the boy that was standing in front of him, with fingers covered in ink and glaring at him as if he had heard the entire conversation.

"Hello Chat Noir," Mauro said, taking a seat on the edge of a ventilation duct "I believe we haven't properly introduced ourselves before."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be honest.  
> I have NO idea if this will go for Adrinette or not because I don't think I conquer romance that well.  
> Besides those two needed to sort out a lot before even thinking of romance.  
> ...however, some comments have wormed into my head with some Maurinette (thanks Rocco for the ship name) and I'm just saying I do have that plot bunny hopping around from time to time.  
> See you for the next chapter!


	8. Conversations II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Follow up of conversations and disaster teenagers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never try to write fanfic while watching a Livestream. I was distracted a lot with Markiplier's dancing.  
> Anywho, this is a different pov and sorry it is short, this week work was hectic.

Mauro sometimes wondered if he should have paid more attention to the stories his grandmother Meggie told about silver tongues and how they could alter stories. He would trail behind her as she narrated them, all from her memory because she never read around Mauro; all her stories about jumping in books and magic, about how his powers, were they to manifest, would require him to have control and responsibility. And Mauro had loved the idea of just jumping into one story one day, just to see a different world.

His mother could do it, and when Mauro first conjured a galloping horse from a children's book he had, he was taught to be extra careful with what he read, where he read it and how he read it. He later realized the switch didn't happen when it was something he wrote, which, again, gave him too valuable lessons from his grandmother about being responsible with such magic.

Yet none of their advice fitted in his current situation. Sitting on top of a ventilation duct, watching two teenage superheroes trying to convince the other to shut up and listen. It was a good thing he arrived just in time to avoid one of those purple demons –seriously who decided on the names in this universe- but to see Adrien and Marinette not getting to the point was beginning to give him a headache. Mauro could tell both parties were upset and confused, who wouldn't after all the truth bombs they had got in the past hours. But time was a thing they didn't have and Mauro didn't specify to freeze time outside of the magic shield.

He really should have thought the whole thing through.

"Mauro?"

Oh yeah, and now he had to explain himself to the other side of the equation.

"That's my name," Mauro snapped his fingers, like the finger gun pose, as he crossed his legs on the duct, "I think we have a few more minutes before it fades so, let's get down to business, ok?"

"I don't understand," Adrien turned to look at Marinette "is he? Does he have…?"

Yep. Mauro really should have thought this through.

"I can read things to life," Mauro said, eyeing the kwamis that were floating to his direction "like the shield covering us all from Hawkmoth? The shield that will let you two come clean about many things? All me dude."

"Come clean?"

"Wait, what?"

Mauro eyed at the kwamis "I see your daily frustrations now."

"You have no idea," Plagg muttered, earning himself a strong nudge from Tikki "what? The kid is right, we are going in circles here."

"Marinette," Mauro looked at her "I don't take back what I told you about wanting to help you out and it's good you are telling all this to w- Adrien over here but, I think he also deserves to know some other things, right?"

"What other things?" Adrien was looking between him and Marinette, and if it wasn't because the situation was quite delicate, Mauro would have snorted at how hilarious his face was right there. Instead, he kept as calm as he could, waiting for Marinette to make the next move. He really hoped she was on the same page.

"He's right," Marinette looked at Adrien "I have also done bad things, with and without the mask" she took a step closer "I let my crush go overboard sometimes."

Mauro now knew what it was to feel second-hand embarrassment, listening to the time Marinette went on a series of mishaps to erase a voicemail, and even he could tell having memorized someone's daily life was strange. It also was interesting to look at Adrien's reactions from sympathetic understanding to right down embarrassment.

He would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't for the fact he was currently starving.

Mauro could tell both teens were struggling with letting all of that information out, but if there was something he had learned from the cheesy stories his dad loved was that communication and trust were two vital things in any type of relationship. So he waited, looking at the shield that was still protecting them.

"And of course, the book," she said, at last, turning Mauro's attention to Adrien's face.

"What?"

"As Marinette," she wriggled with her hands "I, the book you had about Miraculous, I took it... without permission."

Mauro glanced at the pair as Marinette explained what had happened that day, how she had yes, followed out of concern and a tad of jealously, how the book turned out to be something important about the Miraculous and all the trouble it came with just trying to return it, even if it wasn't at the right hands.

Adrien had to find a place to sit down after that, his mind reeling with information so fast Mauro could almost picture the hamster in his mind running real fast.

"This… huh"

"Yeah,"

Marinette walked towards Mauro to lean against the ventilation duck, earning a reassuring smile from him as they both waited for Adrien to talk. The silence stretched on for a few more seconds, but for Mauro, they felt quite eternal.

"We are…very messed up."

Marinette blinked once, twice, and then burst into a fit of giggles, earning the same response from Adrien, both teens laughing as they held to their stomachs. Mauro sighed, amused at how they had ended up, glancing at the shield that was finally dissipating, leaving them all looking at the night Parisian sky.

He waited for the others to calm down from their little hysteria, getting aware of the street sounds around them coming over and the cool breeze passing through them to sober them up. Mauro glanced at his watch, a little past ten, and cleared his throat to call their attention.

"Well, if anyone doesn't have anything else to add to the list,"

"I believe no," Adrien stood up, dusting off his jeans as Marinette leaned away from the duct "this…wow this was uh,"

"Quite something" Marinette smiled, her nervousness still there but barely noticeable "are… are you ok?"

"I, well, I think I will be, and you?"

"I uhm, yes, I mean, I feel so much lighter now."

"So do I… it explains many things now too," he said, "like how you knew right away Lila was lying."

Ah, right. The reason Mauro had decided to jump into this story in the first place. He glanced at Marinette, at how her face turned sour with just the girl's name. Oh right, that was the main reason Mauro had jumped into this universe.

"I understand now Marinete" Adrien looked at her, more resolve in his face "but I still think calling her out would just bring us more trouble if she gets akumatized."

"But what about the rest of the class Adrien? What will happen when one lie gets too far and the realization of it makes something even worse? Lila already knows she can get them all against me, what if she goes after you too? Or Nino or Alya?"

"The project," Adrien frowned "the interview and the people she supposedly knows,"

"Ok, it's getting late for plotting," Mauro stepped in between them, "I think you should go back home already."

"What? But it's just," Marinette looked at her phone and gasped when she realized the time "it is late."

"I should go home too," Adrien said, calling his transformation again, "before I get in trouble."

"We can talk tomorrow, maybe?" Marinette asked, just as Tikki floated towards her to let her transform into Ladybug.

"Ah yes, we can, there are uh,"

"Still things we uh,"

"You two are killing me," Mauro turned around "I'm going to use the emergency stairs like a regular human being and let you two solve that last string, this guy is dying for some nourishment."

"Wait, Mauro," Ladybug walked towards him before he reached the door "I could drop you off, least I could do after you helped us out…twice."

Mauro weighed that option, sparing a glance at Chat Noir that was looking at them quite focused. Oh, he did not have time for any of that possibility forming in his head. Rule number one of jumping in stories, do not get involved in romantic tangles.

"As much as I would love to get the Spiderman experience all over again" he smiled "I'm going to go hunt for the cheapest food, buy the equivalent of halls you have in this place and crash on my cheap bed."

"Are you sure?"

Oh totally, Mauro thought as he walked to the metal stairs. The last he needed was to be the third wheel in the last topic those two needed to talk about.

"Yup, don't worry" he smiled "we can plot all you want tomorrow over lunch or something."

He waved at the heroes and slid his way out of the building.

As he walked around the block towards the place he had found to crash, for the time being, he spared a glance at the rooftop where the two figures jumped out in opposite directions. Mauro wondered what would happen about the love square they had now that they knew their identities and came clean with their actions.

Paris wasn't so bad at night, he thought as he walked in search for a convenience store that was still open. And now he could just go back to the initial reason he had jumped to this universe.

He just hoped he hadn't meddled too much with the strings of the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are back on kicking the plot of this story!  
> Someone feed Mauro already please.  
> Thank you for reading, comments are very much appreciated and I shall now go find food myself.


	9. Interventions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Adrien now must bring the rest of their team to the light.  
> Let's see how that goes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have started this yesterday because I was impatient.  
> And now I'm running late for my evening classes, so enjoy!

Sunday arrived and Mauro couldn't have been more relaxed at that moment, enjoying his attempt of relaxation while he waited on the school stairs. It was bound to be another day full of ups and downs, so the least he could do was be calm and prepared, his old notebook on the side while he played with his fountain pen in between his fingers.

The building was closed of course but it was the closest to Marinette's home and the location alone gave Mauro enough space to enjoy the solitude.

So far he had managed to help out Marinette and Adrien with their personal issues, which were quite more than he had taken account of, but now the next stage was more difficult since it involved other people. Mauro knew about them of course, he had to before jumping into this story, but now he had no idea of how to proceed. His original plan was just meddling a tiny bit to put the story back in order but now more things had spilt out and he had gotten more involved than necessary.

No wonder he was always told not to get too invested in a story.

Marinette was right that action had to be done before things went sour, disastrous even. On the other side, Adrien was right that calling Lila out in front of everyone would lead to, again, disastrous results. Both parties had good arguments and Mauro knew one important thing was to make sure the rest of the involved were aware of all the lying.

Yet no matter how many times he looked at it, a confrontation was bound to occur and for that, it would require more than just a few words to be solved.

"Mauro!" he heard Marinette calling him and his stomach grumbled when he saw her carrying a bag with pastries inside.

"Morning," he waved, looking at the bag swinging in front of him "is that…?"

"I got you something, I didn't know what you would like and since this will be a busy day, might as well."

Mauro reached for the bag and pulled out a heart shaped dough pastry with sugar coated on its surface. Mauro's eyes lit up at the familiar sight of it.

"An  _oreja_! Oh, I forgot those really from here" he took a bite and hummed at how amazing it tasted "this is so good!"

"What did you call it?" Mauro pointed to his ear as he ate it all "an ear? Funny, we call them palmiers"

"That's what they call it in Mexico, well," he shrugged "in some states, don't get me started on the name debate we have over pastries, it will take me all day."

"I will keep that in mind" Marinette sat next to him and pulled out another pastry to eat herself "we could add that in our project if you want since we really haven't discussed what we are going to do."

"Talk exclusively about pastries?" Mauro laughed "sure, I'm not against it, but if we start with pastries we will have to jump to other dishes and my stomach wouldn't handle it."

"I see you have your equipment ready just in case" Marinette pointed at his pen "is it magical too?"

"No," Mauro smiled as he gave it to Marinette to inspect it "it belonged to my great grandfather and I just find it more suitable and dramatic to write with it."

"That explains your ink covered hands," Marinette smiled as Mauro shrugged, stealing another pastry from the bag.

Yes, it was nice, for a moment, to just talk about a school assignment instead of worrying about other things that were more emotional and tense. If anything it helped ease a sense of normalcy. But strings had to be moved and Mauro knew he would have to ask about yesterday.

"Assuming from lack of evil butterflies last night I guess you and Adrien left on good terms?"

To his surprise, Marinette's face was calm, very serene, as she sneaked a macaroon to her purse where Tikki took it with joy. She looked at the sky, the bright blue and clear of clouds of a Sunday, and then towards Mauro.

"We agreed to be just friends for now," she said, her hands on her knees "let's say we are doing a do over of our feelings for each other, get to be friends first."

"A do over?"

"Yeah, I mean" she smiled "what I feel for Adrien is not going to leave in a cloud of smoke just like that" she sighed "but I just, well we want to re-evaluate some aspects of them, get to understand the feelings and if they have changed before well, jumping to a relationship."

"That's good, very wise" Mauro felt the relief on his body after that answer "I'm sure it will turn out alright."

They stayed in silence for a few moments, just the sound of cars filling the space, until Marinette chuckled, earning Mauro's attention again.

"It's strange, I thought I would be, devastated, depressed even from the idea of being rejected by Adrien but I felt none of that?" she looked back at the sky "if anything I feel I can have a proper chance this time, about romance and all."

"Good luck with that I guess?" Mauro shrugged, earning a squint from Marinette.

"You don't like romance, do you?"

"Can't relate, file not found" Mauro snickered, earning a small shove from Marinette who laughed as he stumbled on the side, just as Adrien waved at them from the sidewalk.

"What's going on?" he asked, eyeing the pair while Mauro rescued another pastry to eat.

"I am being a victim for my lack of knowledge in the romance department" Mauro shrugged, ignoring the inquisitive stare from Adrien.

"You've never had a girlfriend?"

"First of all," Mauro wiped his fingers on the back of his jeans "bold of you to assume I'm straight."

"Oh sorry I-"

"You could say I am on a stand- _by_  situation," Mauro added, snickering when Marinette groaned next to him, Adrien's eyes blinking in realization.

"Was that a pun?"

"Yep,"

Adrien smiled at that, which earned more eye rolling on Marinette's side. She offered the bag to Adrien who took a croissant with a bigger smile, enjoying the pastry as he sat on Marinette's right side.

"Is here where we are going to discuss what to do about…?"

"Unless you want another rooftop meeting, I'm fine here" Mauro shrugged "besides, I have an idea for you two to think about."

"What is it?"

"Well," Mauro turned to them "one way to deal with liars is having a grasp of the truth right?" they nodded "and in this case, we have one, two and me three who know it fully."

"Aha?"

"Marinette, maybe now that Adrien is willing to speak up you can clear things up with Alya." Mauro said "she's into journalism is she not? Maybe she should follow her own advice of fact checking and all."

"He's right," Adrien turned to look at Marinette "Alya has to know Lila's stories can't be true."

"I know," Marinette sighed "and I don't know why she didn't? But that video on her blog… once she finds out the interview is a bunch of lies- "

"Knowing the internet? I think she will find out soon enough."

"And that can't be good," Adrien added "because of-"

"Akumas, yes" Marinette frowned as she pulled out her phone "so it is an agreement we have to talk with her, together."

"And Nino," Adrien added, "I haven't heard anything from him regarding Lila but if he's here he can get to know about the situation before it escalates."

Marinette hummed in agreement as she sent the text, now to wait for a response. She sighed, unsure of what to even tell her friend. Would she take the same stand as before? Assuming her reactions out of jealously only? She was still hurt by that and if there was something she had learned in the past 3 days was that she had all her right to be upset about things happening to her.

Alya was stubborn, yes, but she was also a good friend. If all this created an even bigger gap between them… she didn't know what she would do about it.

They kept talking about how to deal with the situation at hand. In the end, they had to agree that even with the evidence they had and the testimonies they could get, exposing Lila would only cause backlash and chaos.

At the very least there was the letting authorities know, that being the teachers and even Lila's mother since she had been saying she was away when it seemed that wasn't true either.

It took around half an hour to spot Alya and Nino crossing the street, both waving with a confused expression when they spotted Marinette sitting with Adrien and Mauro.

"Hey girl, you've been avoiding me," Alya said once they were within hearing distance. Marinette knew that wasn't a lie, even shrinking a little when Alya's eyes scanned her company. Oh, the situations she would have to have later on.

"I was not, just working on the project," she looked at Mauro.

"Oh yep" Mauro nodded "connecting the world with bread, we are going to  _knead_ a lot of research."

"Oh, I'm sure you could do  _butter_  than that" Adrien quipped, both boys laughing as Nino and Alya looked confused at them turning to Marinette who just covered her face with her hands. Now there were two of them.

"Please stop" she groaned, smiling a little at the faces the other two made "this is a pun nightmare."

"Puns?" Nino looked at Adrien who shrugged with a small smile in return "really bro?"

"They are not so bad," Adrien said, looking at Marinette who just rolled her eyes again and stood up towards Alya.

"Anyway," she looked at the girl "I, well, we but mostly me, wanted to clear out some things Alya, about…"

"This is about Lila, isn't it?"

Marinette's eyes widened in surprise, had she figured it out?

"Ye-yes? Oh, so that means you-"

"Girl, it's alright, I know about it" Alya placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled at Marinette, "I can help you out apologize to her!"

"What!?"

Marinette took a step back, almost colliding with the bottom step, looking at Alya in shock. Apologize? Apologize for what exactly? She felt a wave of hot frustration and embarrassment washing over her, but she tried to keep it together.

"Why should I apologize to her? For calling her out on her lies?"

"Marinette," Alya tried to calm her down, but her tone made Marinette even more annoyed, "I told you that if you don't have pr-"

"But she's right" Adrien stood up to stand next to Marinette "Lila has been lying to us, all of us."

"What?" Nino turned to look at him, "but why?"

Mauro looked at the situation unfold before his eyes. He could tell Alya was trying to grasp at something to think she hadn't been deceived, at Nino's confused expression as he also tried to comprehend what was going on. And even when he couldn't see Marinetter or Adrien's faces, he could tell there was that resolve in her eyes there was no way she would back down from this confrontation.

"Oh yes, because you told us how you eavesdropped her and-" Alya glanced at Adrien, who didn't look away from her, just for Marinette to snap back in.

"And while it wasn't a good thing to do, spy on a friend" Marinette cut in "haven't you done your share of eavesdropping as well Alya?"

"T-that" Alya actually stuttered, looking at Marinette in surprise "w-well it… you haven't shown me proof of it" Alya crossed her arms "you told me she lied about knowing Ladybug, where is the proof?"

"I was there Alya, and I saw Ladybug calling Lila out of it" Adrien intervened "isn't that proof enough?"

"It-"

Alya was at loss of words, her hands fumbling with her phone as she went back to the video of Lila talking about Ladybug. She had already planned a new interview with Lila after she was saved by Ladybug just a few days ago. But now she wasn't sure anymore, everything too confusing and contradictory for her to follow up.

"I have, I just,"

Nino went to her side to hug her by the shoulders, but even he didn't know what to say about the whole situation as well. He knew Marinette, had known her for years, and while he had found the eavesdropping uncool, he knew Marinette was not one to throw false accusations.

And now that Adrien was also backing up what she said, it was something to really think about.

"Alya-"

"How could I be so stupid?!" Alya stomped her foot, anger in her tone "my blog, my work as a journalist!"

"Alya, please" Nino held her tight "we all make mistakes."

"But-"

"He has a point there" Mauro finally spoke, having had enough of the smack down he had just seen "mistakes happen, you screw up, now you gotta fix it."

"Oh, when I get my hands on her-"

"No!" Adrien and Marinette called out at the same time, earning the surprise of the other two.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Alya glared at her, arms crossed "to call her out?"

"I want you to not fall for lies that will make everything worse," Marinette called back "what would have happened if you had let it continue? If you or Nino or anyone realized they had been played for fools?"

"But-"

"We have to take action yes," Marinette said, "but we have to be smart about it too."

"Oh, no wonder they call you every day Ladybug," Mauro said with a smile.

Marinette turned to look at him and smiled, but the smile didn't last for long when the five heard that saccharine voice calling nearby.

"Adrien! Oh, I thought I wasn't going to be able to see you until tomorrow" Lila sing sang as she sneaked her way into Adrien's arm "good to know Alya told me we would gather together to study."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter there will be changes in the tags, some additions so to warn everyone about it.  
> (no character death I won't go that dark I swear)


	10. Lid coming off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hawkmoth knows something strange is going on in Paris. And if it'll help him get towards his goal, who is he to say no?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the tag spoilers, but I had to.

 

There was something going on in Paris.

Gabriel Agreste tapped his fingers against his arms, crossed and tense as he thought about the past events.

Oh, how close had he been when that girl, that Lila Rossi, had showed up to the city. She had been one of the closest akumas to retrieve the Ladybug's earrings –while using an illusion of his son but it had ended up being effective- and succeeding in his plans.

When she transformed into Volpina again and caused havoc among the Parisians with that illusion, creating so much despair for him to take his plan into action, oh he could have almost touched them from how close he was to succeed. It was unfortunate to be defeated in the end, but that was just a battle, not the war.

And then for a third time! As a different akuma but nonetheless, he could have achieved it, that girl was just a perfect piece in his game. Never mind the fact that that akuma was destined for someone else.

Yes, Gabriel frowned as he glanced through the window of his lair; that girl, that designer girl wasn't immune to negative emotions. As Hawkmoth he almost had her not once but twice, only to be ruined by the intervention of the teacher in the first one and then the girl had the audacity to avoid the second butterfly destined for her.

How had she done it, he didn't know yet. But he knew, he could tell thanks to his own miraculous that the girl's emotions could have been enough for him to have a powerful akuma, the most powerful one even, with all that sadness and anger and embarrassment swimming around, all hidden by a lid.

She had interacted with her on occasion. Of course as Gabriel Agreste, who had to admit the girl had the potential for the industry. With enough studying and hard work he was sure she would get high in the professional ladder. Yet as Hawkmoth he was more invested in all those emotions.

But since Friday that pot of emotions had become almost inexistent under his radar. They couldn't have disappeared just like that! After his initial surprise, he found them still there, but in such a lower intensity it was strange. Not only that, but he had felt as if something was blocking his sight of her emotions. It had felt as if the girl was suddenly erased from the city, like she had been moved to another location, only to pop up moments later with such ease he had been stunned by that magical –because what other explanation could he have- event.

Then with his latest akuma the day before, that hadn't been the magic of creation that caused that tacky carp over the miraculous holders, it came from somewhere else. And to top it all, for one moment he had felt it, the intense sadness coming from his own son, the hurt and embarrassment over something he didn't know what it was, only for it to be blocked  _again_  out of his sight.

Yes, something was going on in Paris.

"Nooroo" he turned to the small purple kwami "what kind of power is it that is blocking my sight?"

Nooroo didn't want to answer, but the cold stare from Gabriel and the binding he had to him made it impossible to avoid.

"It's a different type of creation magic," Nooroo said, voice meek and eyes down "I haven't seen it for decades, hundreds of years."

"Creation magic you say" Gabriel turned on his heels "and who or what is the responsible of this? Is it another miraculous?"

"N-no master," Nooroo fumbled with their paws "this is from, well, they are called silver tongues, and they can breathe life in the words they speak."

"And how do they do that?"

Nooroo didn't answer right away, which meant either the kwami was fighting real hard to reveal or they simply didn't know.

"No matter, I will find this silver tongue, they might be better in getting the miraculous for me."

He called his transformation, the mask and suit of Hawkmoth appearing instead of the white pristine one he usually wore.

"Now, where is this magic hiding?"

Paris always had their ups and downs in emotions, many people possible victims for Hawkmoth to akumatize. He had had failures in the past, several of them downright embarrassing, but some, like that Rossi girl, had been useful enough.

Speaking of which, he smirked as he sensed the emotions of one Marinette Dupain-Cheng simmering in anger and disbelief, close to what had to be Lila Rossi and –he frowned- his son. He called an akuma, sending it to keep guard above the teens and strike at the right moment. He wanted Marinette on this, he wanted a strong akuma and he was not going to back down from the opportunity.

The akuma flew out of the window, passing rooftops and treetops, startling a few birds that sensed something off about the purple creature, as the akuma finally arrived to the top of the school building, close enough to find the six teenagers on the staircase, but far out of sight for any of them to even notice it.

Said teenagers wouldn't have been able to notice either way, since all the attention was in the staring from one to another, the tension was beginning to feel palpable.

Marinette was torn between keeping Alya from snapping and just leaving the place. She was not going to deal with Lila Rossi more than she had to at school, but if Alya were to call her out right there it would just create a pandemonium, and they were trying to keep it calm.

Adrien, on the other hand, was feeling Lila's nails almost digging into his arm as the girl looked from him to the others, and not once breaking her smile turning back to Adrien.

"What's wrong?"

"Lila," Adrien tried to pull her hands away from his arm "could you let-"

"Was it a lie?" Alya cut in, looking at Lila in disbelief "are you really friends with Ladybug or not?"

Marinette caught the glimpse Lila threw at her, the stare that said she was going to get back at her, but it was for a split of a second, as she moved away from Adrien and her face turned to one of shock and disbelief.

"W-what?" her voice quivered, making her look like she was confused at the accusation "Alya, why would I lie about such thing?"

"Adrien saw Ladybug debunking what you had said," Alya crossed her arms "he just said it."

"Well of course," Lila placed a hand on her chest "how else would we make it believable to keep her real identity a secret?"

Everyone turned to look at Lila when she said that, even Mauro who had stood up to stand next to Marinette. Oh, the girl was good at making up stories on the go, he had to admit that.

"If she had acted like we usually talk" Lila kept going "then Adrien would have figured out who she is behind the mask" she turned to Adrien with a pout and Adrien felt his stomach dropping "we had to keep an appearance after all."

Marinette was fuming by that point. If she called Lila out then there was no way she would be able to back up her claim without revealing her identity as Ladybug. One glance at Adrien and she knew he was thinking the exact same thing.

"I have to throw off some things here and there for her safety after all" Lila sighed "I hope you can forgive me Alya, you of all people know how superheroes are."

"I uh," Alya faltered, looking at Nino and then to Lila "I-yes, identities are important after all."

"See? I would never try to trick you" Lila batted her eyelashes "how about I make it up for you? I can arrange an interview with Ladybug for you, a total exclusive."

"Really?" Alya's eyes lit up at that and Marinette had had it. She could not take this anymore. Her shoulders were tense and her eyes were practically throwing daggers at Lila, when she felt a hand on her side, followed by a loud laugh.

"Ay ajá," Mauro kept laughing "yeah sure, maybe you could call her right now and see if she's available."

"Excuse me?" Lila turned to him "have we met?"

"I literally showed up in your class two days ago m'ija" Mauro said, "but go on, be our guest."

"I just said-"

"Secret identities, throwing people off their scent yada-yada" Mauro rolled his eyes "puro mame, to be honest, because I may be new here, but I'm not that dumb to see that's a terrible lie."

Lila huffed and glared at him, startled for once. Marinette couldn't help but to smile.

"Fine then," Lila huffed and pulled out her phone, glaring at Mauro as she typed something she didn't let anyone else see "of course I wouldn't call her, why would I risk that trust? But if she can be with us later today, she will answer."

Mauro spared a glance at the other two who didn't make another gesture, to Alya and Nino, where the latter was more perplexed as his girlfriend looked confused and desperately trying to understand the situation.

He moved closer to Marinette and pulled his pen out of her hand, moving as subtly as he could to Adrien's side.

"Now, can we go back to work?" she pulled Adrien's arm towards her "I'm sure you would want to have an amazing project, Adrien, keep those scores perfect after all."

Marinette wanted to gag at the sight. She turned to see Mauro who was apparently too preoccupied removing a cartridge of ink from his back pocket, snickering when a small black paw took it from under Adrien's shirt all the way to the other side of the sleeve.

Adrien felt it, the movement of Plagg from underneath his shirt and then the sticky sensation of ink being dropped on his arm and Lila's hand, where she jumped back as she looked at her now blue fingers.

"What!?"

"Aw, sorry" Mauro closed his pen "it's a faulty design, didn't mean to do that."

"Oh, really now?"

"It looks like it," Adrien looked at Mauro so he could give him the pen to 'inspect' it closer "my father has one of these if you press too hard it could happen."

"Of course," Lila took a tissue from her pocket to try and clean off the ink "is it a Mont Blanc? I got one from none other than John Green while we waited on a delayed plane to San Francisco."

Now it was Mauro who wanted to gag in response.

"So, shall we go then?" Lila ignored Mauro's face "the sooner we work  _together_ " she smirked at Marinette "the sooner I get to show you all that Ladybug is my one and only best friend."

She was feeling the anger invading her again, the frustration of wanting to call her out but being unable to without revealing who she was. It almost felt like her blood was boiling inside her veins, the lies so unbelievable she wanted to shout, get this over with.

"Look out!" Nino called out and pointed behind Marinette, everyone turning to see the purple butterfly flying towards her.

She had to calm down, she had to not let it take over her. But just as it was a few centimetres away from her, someone pushed her out of the way, her feet tripping on each other as she fell.

"No!" Nino screamed, pulling Alya out as Lila turned around and ran away, ignoring the rest of the teenagers.

Marinette turned around, her knees hurting from the impact, but the pain became non existent when she saw who had been the one that pushed her out of the akuma's way.

Adrien, who now had the purple butterfly mask on his face as Hawkmoth invaded his mind, his hand clutching onto a darkened fountain pen.


	11. Mistakes were made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hawkmoth struggles.  
> Adrien hesitates.  
> Marinette needs a plan B

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone on ff.net suggested "The Dark One" for akuma!Adrien and I was on board with it BUUUUT if you know King Falls AM and The Dark you can tell why I could not follow through with that.  
> Anyways, enjoy!  
> P.S. Sorry for the pov skip but I had to

Hawkmoth was stunned, to say the least. How had it ended up like that? He had let his son, his son of all people, and fall under one of his akumas. He should call it off, retreat the danger from Adrien at once, be sure something like this didn't happen again.

And yet, a small voice in his head spoke, and yet feel all of those emotions, all that sadness, that solitude, that fear. There were intense just like the girl but directed at something else. There was hurt, there was an embarrassment, there was…jealously? Oh, oh all of those that could fuel one powerful akuma indeed.

But, it was Adrien. Hawkmoth's grip on his cane tightened as he fought those thoughts over and over. What had happened before? Adrien in danger because of akumas, Volpina using an illusion of his son to lure Ladybug to-

Ah.

Ladybug cared for his son a tad more than for any other civilian. Understandable, Hawkmoth mused, she must be some sort of fan out of the mask after all. And Ladybug would do anything to keep Adrien safe, even give personally her miraculous. Even more, he grinned, she could help him find that silver tongue, have a backup plan.

Besides, how else would he finally shake off that time she had her trail on him as being Hawkmoth? If Gabriel Adreste were Hawkmoth, he wouldn't risk his son's life like this. Yes, this was a perfect cover-up, a way for him to throw off that scent against him.

If he could make Adrien a strong, powerful akuma, then he was going to be safe from Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Hawkmoth was going to make sure of that.

oOo

One moment Adrien had seen the akuma flying towards Marinette and his body reacted on its own. Maybe, he would later think of it as his drive to protect his lady since she was the only one who would be able to save him. Maybe it had been his feeling of duty mixed with the feelings of devotion he still had for her that wanted to protect her.

The next moment? He felt like he was floating. He couldn't hear the others around him, couldn't really see them anymore, nor the streets or the school. Everything around his was turning dark, like a tunnel he had just entered where his body stopped working with the laws of physic. His feet were still grounded to something but his head was filling with cotton, muddling everything around him as well.

Adrien had seen it before, how when an akuma reached someone they would hear Hawkmoth and transform. He always assumed it was because he got into their heads like a hypnotic trance. Was there a time lapse before? Was time moving differently in his mind rather than outside? There was no voice in his head, no orders or threats, nothing but silence and darkness. Was that part of Hawkmoth's tricks to submit their victims to agreeing? Because if it was, Adrien didn't know how long he would be able to handle the silence and isolation.

His chest started to pound, fear creeping up his body. Was he going to be left abandoned there? Isolated from everything and everyone now? Was his body already lost? He had to get out, he had to find the light amidst all of that darkness.

"Hello!?" he tried to call out, receiving no answer, only an echo in his own mind. He called again and again, calling out for Marinette, for Nino, for Mauro even but no one answered.

"Pla-" he stopped himself from finishing that name. He couldn't voice out Plagg's name, not if Hawkmoth was in his mind. He couldn't let Hawkmoth know about it. He had to take it off, he had to protect Plagg as well.

Adrien reached for his hand, or thought he did, as everything was too dark for him to really know, and felt the warmth of the ring on his finger. But just as he started to work on it, he heard the voice of Hawkmoth clear as water filling his head.

"Hello L'Obscur"

"No," Adrien felt his voice sore but he didn't care "I am not agreeing to anything you say."

"Oh, but I haven't said anything yet,"

"I am not helping you spread fear to this city," Adrien stood tall –or so he believed, it was too complicated to keep track of- "get out of my head."

"You don't understand, all I want, all I ask is to stop being so lonely, and I know you can tell how horrible that feels."

Adrien was held back by that. It had to be a trick, a trap for him to agree.

"You don't know that"

"I do," Hawkmoth replied, "I can see it in your heart, and I can help you stop feeling it, just like me, I can help you have that you are missing."

"You don't-"Adrien struggled against him, the ringer coming loose on his finger "I don't need you."

"You do," Hawkmoth was more insistent "isn't that what you want after all? A complete family, friends? A young girl's love?"

Adrien froze. So Hawkmoth could really see into his thoughts and memories? He had to fight it off, he had to protect his identity, his Lady's identity.

"I offer you a deal L'Obscur,"

"I'm not –"

"Help me and I will help you."

"No-"

"You won't go after the Miraculous, they will come on their own,"

What?

"All I ask," Hawkmoth continued "is for you to find me someone that will help me stop feeling so lonely that is all."

It had to be a trap, it had to be a lie. But Adrien's mind was getting foggy and blurry, his thoughts meddling with themselves in an attempt to protect his privacy.

"No one will get hurt?"

"No one. I can help you protect your friends, protect the girl of your dreams even."

"Then…what do I have to do?"

"Get Ladybug and Chat Noir," Hawkmoth smirked, "so they can tell me how to find the silver tongue."

oOo

Marinette was stunned, to say the least. She tried calling to him, startled when Adrien was calling out for anyone and then turning quiet. It was obvious now he couldn't hear them, but he hadn't been engulfed in dark energy, which meant he was fighting back.

"Marinette," Nino called for her "we have to get help."

"Adrien-"

"We need to find Ladybug" he insisted, trying to pull her away "she can purify our dude."

Alya was already on her phone, liveblogging in hopes the heroes of Paris would find out, but Marinette didn't need to see that, she was already there, torn in helplessness and frustration. Adrien was struggling right now to fend off the akumatization yes but what if it wasn't enough?

"It'll be worse for all if we stay," Nino tried again and Marinette wanted to push him away, to tell him to run so she could stay and fix this.

"The-" Adrien started to speak, startling them all.

"He's fighting it back" Marinette looked at Adrien, "Adrien!"

"No one will get hurt?"

Marinette felt her heart pounding. Who knew what Hawkmoth was telling Adrien right there, but she had seen it before, with Mme. Bustier, how he had twisted words to convince the victims to agree.

"Then…what do I have to do?"

"No!" Marinette shouted, but it was too late.

It was then when the darkness took over, engulfing Adrien and transforming him into something else. His hair was no longer blond but now it was a sleek black all pushed back. His face was covered by a mask, shaped like Chat Noir's but this one was black with silver patterns around, the eyes with a white cloth that didn't let Marinette see those green eyes of his. He looked human in shape, except his skin was now a dark purple, like amethyst, and instead of his casual clothes, Adrien was wearing a suit, like the one he had worn when he had been frozen in gold, but this one was a dark purple with a violet tie.

The part that made Marinette fear was that he was no longer holding the fountain pen but a sword, a slightly shorter sword than the ones Marinette had seen Adrien use during his fencing classes. This one was broader and of the same black and purple pattern as his outfit.

"Ad-Adrien?"

"I am L'Obscur" he spoke, in a rich, melodious voice that was nothing like Adrien's "and I'm going to make things right."

"Adrien please" Marinette tried again, held back by Mauro before she could step further "n-no he has to-"

"Ladybug purifies right?" he muttered at her "that's what he needs."

L'Obscur raised the arm with the sword and pointed at Alya, who shrieked as Nino tugged on her hand to stand in front of her.

"Dude, it's us-"

"Stand down" L'Obscur slashed his sword down, a wave of purple energy hitting them both, their bodies kneeling to the ground in weaves of purple magic.

"Adrien! Stop!" she called out for him, looking at Mauro and to the other two "please, fight it!"

"You are not safe here" L'Obscur walked towards her, pointing his sword at Mauro now "I must protect you, I must find the Miraculous, I must trade them for the silver tongue."

"Oh, very nice of you" Mauro gritted his teeth "you just Percy Jackson'd my pen and now you think you can do whatever you want?"

"Mauro!"

She pulled him out of the way of another wave of purple energy when she saw it, lying behind Adrien, Chat Noir's ring.

Marinette looked at him just as he raised his arm to throw another wave at Mauro, and ran towards him, pushing him to a side as the wave hit a tree instead, bounding him with purple threads. She grabbed the ring and stuffed it in her purse, turning just in time to avoid a purple hand trying to grab her.

"Marinette," L'Obscur spoke to her, causing her knees to tremble "I must protect you."

"You need to snap out of it," Marinette wanted to cry, but held her tears in check as she ran past him, grabbing Mauro's wrist and running away. Both ducked their heads when another wave passed right above them, but Marinette didn't stop running until they were inside what seemed to be an apartment building's lobby. Even then, she kept moving until they were at the top of the stairs, just in front of the door that led to the rooftop.

"What am I going to do," she panted, catching her breath "what can I do?"

"Marinette" Mauro tried to call for her "you can help him, you've done it before."

She nodded, looking at Tikki who was gazing at the ring with worry.

"At least he took it off before something worse could happen" she held the ring in her hand "but how will I do this? He's my partner Mauro, the one who knows how Ladybug fights."

"Well," Mauro crossed his arms "he took away my pen so I'm as powerful as that fingerless ring right now" he clicked his tongue "I guess I could look around and find something to write… and why are you staring at me like that? "

"He's looking for you," Marinette said, Tikki nodding at her side "you heard him, Hawkmoth knows you are here."

"Oh, joy" Mauro frowned "I don't need to be in the front lines, he can't find me, and he doesn't know it's me!"

"But he knows of your magic," Tikki said, "and if he does, and sees you when doing it-"

"It can't be good" Marinette added, "besides, if Hawkmoth finds out Adrien is Chat-"

"That would be terrible" Tikki piped up "we need to cause another type of diversion."

"I don't like where this is going-"Mauro looked at Marinette and Tikki, who just disappeared as Marinette called her transformation, the stairs engulfed in pink light for a moment. In front of him now stood Ladybug, holding the ring on her palm, showing it to Mauro with a decisive expression on her face.

"I need you to become Chat Noir for today."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sad note, this has to be the longest conversation Adrien has had with his father.  
> Hmm  
> Thanks for reading!  
> Also yes, I also happen to love Percy Jackson and I totally intended to throw that joke.


	12. L'Obscurité

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> L'Obscur is walking around Paris. How will Ladybug fight this familiar akuma?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I admit I watched the new season of Queer Eye and forgot about getting on my lap for a full day. 
> 
> So! akuma Adrien am I right?  
> And did you see the new episode? It was cute, come on.

 

Marinette had felt emotional rollercoasters before. Nearly daily since the arrival of the miraculous into her life and her secret role as Ladybug, protector of Paris. Had been on quite a lot thanks to her crush on Adrien Agreste. Still, the past four days had been way more intense than any other day, almost reaching the same level of wild as the day she met Tikki.

She looked at Mauro's expression and knew it was very similar to the first time she put the earrings on. Hesitance and fear, nervousness and disbelief. Her hand didn't waver, however, as she stepped closer to him, urging him to grab the ring.

"Mauro,"

"No, this is a terrible idea" Mauro shook his head "I can't even dance what makes you think I can wear a leather outfight and fight?"

"I could list all the reasons but we don't have much time," she said, knowing in her heart Mauro was going to accept that as an answer. She reached for him again, the ring a small weight on her palm.

The boy in question groaned and ran his hands through his hair, messing it even more, but when he reached out and grabbed the ring, Ladybug couldn't help the smirk of satisfaction forming on her face.

"Alright…right yeah" he muttered as he switched the ring to his right hand, soon joined by Plagg, who looked instantly to Mauro.

"A warning next time would have been nice" he grumbled, but he wasn't fooling the other two on the staircase "so you are going to be a substitute now?"

"Let's hope so," Mauro sighed "but Hawkmoth is not that stupid, he'll know I'm not the regular Chat Noir."

"Why do you say that?" Ladybug arched an eyebrow.

"Uh, I'm not blond?" Mauro pointed at his hair "and we don't have much time for me to go to a hair salon and fix it."

"That won't be necessary" Plagg crossed his paws "while I am no master of deception like a certain fox," Ladybug frowned "Hawkmoth won't be able to tell in this case."

"Why not?" Ladybug glanced at him "doesn't he see through the eyes of the akumas?"

"Usually yes," Plagg frowned "but only if the Akuma's eyes work like regular eyes not if they are-"

"Covered by a mask" Mauro added, "so he won't tell it is not blond cat boy."

"Exactly-hey!" Plagg puffed at him, earning a grin from Mauro "I was NOT the one who designed that outfit."

"Right, right" he took a deep breath "so we go in and fight him like a regular victim?"

"Akuma-"

"Still not used to saying that," Mauro frowned "so I just…"

"You know what to say" Plagg was grinning at him, Mauro squinting at the little creature "come on!"

"I thought you hated getting in it,"

"Worth the embarrassment you will go through."

Mauro squinted at the little kwami but looked back at Ladybug who nodded encouragingly.

"Plagg," Mauro raised the hand with the ring "claws out!"

The staircase was engulfed in bright green light as Plagg disappeared into the ring, and when Ladybug opened her eyes again, there stood a new Chat Noir.

Sort of.

The mask was there, same as the cat ears, even if now they were on top of a mess of black and silver hair. The outfit was almost exactly the same if it weren't for the lack of a bell and the silver lines that were all over the hems and edges of the outfit. It didn't look too tight even, just fit.

"Come on, say it" Mauro sighed "I look dumb."

"I think it looks appropriate," Ladybug opened the door of the rooftop so they could finally head out "ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be" Chat Mauro grabbed the baton that was on his belt and followed after Ladybug "you will say nice words at my funeral, all I'm saying."

"You'll be fine," Ladybug smiled back at him as she threw her yo-yo to swing towards the next building, scanning the area for Adrien's akumatized form. She knew she could save him, she had to after all, but she still was allowing herself to worry over him, wondering what was going on in his mind and how they would defeat the Akuma without hurting him.

"Boy that's work out" Mauro panted as they landed on a different rooftop "so! Don't akumas have objectives to do? Like we spoil that and voilá?"

"Usually yes," Ladybug crossed her arms "but in this case, he just mentions to protect…" she sighed "protect me."

"Right, which will be a problem if you show as LB because he knows who you are."

Marinette frowned. This fight was beginning to look more and more difficult to strategize. She didn't regret knowing their identities, but now that they had that out of the bag, it was more difficult to form a plan of action. She didn't know how much Adrien would be able to tell while akumatized, or if he would be able to fight it off to keep his memories as far from Hawkmoth's reach.

"Not to mention Hawkmoth wants your skills, he knows about you."

"Which is why you made me be a furry for a day," he added "and like I said, if I'm not reading it, I'm pretty much powerless on that side of the field."

"So, what would he be looking for then?"

"Well," Mauro rubbed the back of his neck "he could also go after the one that wants to hurt you the most right now."

"Lila," Ladybug scoffed "as much as I want her to pay, this is not how I intended it to be."

She didn't notice behind them, on the park nearby, how L'Obscur made his way across the people, some clever enough to run away, find shelter from the supervillain, while others tried to hide and get a glance of the upcoming action.

L'Obscur paid no attention to any of them, instead of walking ahead until he heard some very familiar voices.

Lila Rossi was sobbing, dropping big fat tears in the arms of a very confused Rose, with Juleka on the other side looking uneasy between her and the Italian girl.

"It was awful" Lila sobbed, "she yelled so many things, calling me names and- and" she wiped her tears with a handkerchief "and poor Adrien, the Akuma got him when Marinette pushed him towards it."

"Oh no!" Rose kept consoling her "but, but Ladybug will save him, you'll see."

"If it wasn't for my sprained ankle, I would have been able to save him."

"Lies," L'Obscur called out "Lila Rossi, you are lying."

The girls stepped back, Lila hiding behind Juleka as Rose held her close.

"A-Adrien" she tried "Adrien it's us, we-"

"Stop," L'Obscur waved his sword as purple weaves trapped Juleka and Rose, binding them to the ground as well "I may be blind for justice now, but you are all blind to the truth."

Lila took a few steps back, looking around in hopes of finding another place to hide, but she soon got caught in the weaves of purple magic, leaving her to hang from a tree branch.

"Put me down!"

"No," L'Obscur kept throwing weaves at her "you will fall victim to all the tangled webs you created from your lying, and if you truly wish to be free, then you should try to tell the truth."

Lila struggled but the weaves turned tighter around her, mummifying her until only her nose and fingertips were visible, a purple cocoon hanging from the tree.

"Oh sh-" L'Obscur heard someone say, another of his fellow classmates, but as he turned around to find them, someone threw an acorn at him.

"Hey! Zorro mask!" Mauro called out at him "over here!"

L'Obscur turned around and faced them, giving Marinette an uneasy feeling all over again. He was holding himself with elegance before them, but his arms were stiff, his shoulders too squared up, his face a blank slate of emotions. What unnerved her the most was the lack of eyes, just a white cloth covering them, keeping them away from Marinette to try and figure out, it hurt her chest.

She assessed the place, with now too many purple cocoons around, she wondered who were the ones trapped under the Akuma's magic.

The purple silhouette appeared on the mask, both heroes knowing what that meant. L'Obscur, however, remained silent, ignoring them as he listened to whatever Hawkmoth was saying.

"Ladybug, Chat Noir" he finally spoke, "I believe we can reach an agreement."

Ladybug eyed Mauro for a split second, who shrugged as he was also confused to what was going on. At least it all seemed to point out Hawkmoth hadn't seen it was a different Chat Noir.

"I will set this boy free from my control if you hand me the miraculous," he said, and hearing it from Adrien's mouth made it so much worse "or, you can give me something else."

"And what would that be?" play dumb, she thought, her yo-yo spinning already as a shield between them and L'Obscur.

"I believe there is different magic in Paris," he said, "bring it to me, and I will not mess with you anymore."

"Yikes, you are a terrible salesman," Chat-Mauro said, eyeing Ladybug who gave him a small, almost unnoticeable nod of the head for him to move around the Akuma.

"Oh but Ladybug," L'Obscur was still facing her, the lack of expression, the coldness of the voice just freezing her veins "don't you care about this boy? Don't you care about his wellbeing? This is only a simple request I have, otherwise, my Akuma will do it for me."

Mauro had to hide his wince from Ladybug. Just how low would that guy go? But that was not the time for him to say something about Hawkmoth. He kept sneaking his way around L'Obscur, expanding his baton long enough for what he was going to do.

"I don't know what magic you are talking about."

"I believe you do."

Ladybug didn't answer, instead of throwing her yo-yo towards L'Obscur's sword to grab it. L'Obscur dodged the yo-yo as the purple mask disappeared and prepared to swing his sword at her, but Chat's baton swung underneath his feet and caused him to fall backwards.

"Ouch, sorry about that, didn't mean to swipe you off your feet," Chat smiled as he retracted his baton.

Ladybug had to stop swinging her yo-yo to glare at him.

"Seriously?!"

"What?" Chat Mauro grinned at her "it was right there!"

L'Obscur got back on his feet and turned to face Chat, raising his sword and charging against him, but Chat managed to avoid it as he held the baton in front of him. L'Obscure was even refined in his posture as he parried, the purple magic evading Chat just by millimetres at that point.

"Uh, LB-" he jumped back to avoid another swing "please tell me you have a plan!"

Ladybug threw her yo-yo again, this time grabbing L'Obscur's wrist, but his grip was strong on the sword he didn't let go of it, instead of pulling her towards him. She managed to stand down her feet, the tug strong under her fingers as she tried again to make him drop the sword.

"Come on, Adrien please!" she shouted, "I know you can snap out of it!"

L'Obscur faltered a step but didn't relent as he tugged once more, this time pulling so hard it did send Ladybug flying. She let go of the string and held on to a branch of a tree to balance herself from the motion, just as L'Obscure resumed his attacks towards Chat.

She was not thinking this through. Ladybug gritted her teeth as she watched the two boys giving and dodging attacks, but L'Obscure had far more experience than Mauro and it was fairly obvious at that point.

"Lucky charm!" she called out, in her hands falling what seemed to be-

"Oh come on!" she wanted to laugh at what the universe thought was good luck in this situation, glaring at the umbrella that had fallen on her hands. Fine, if that's how it was going to be, she was going to make use of it.

She threw her yo-yo to stop one of his attacks at Chat, causing him to divert his attention back to her as she landed on her feet next to Chat, holding the umbrella like a blade. L'Obscur took the chance to swing at her, both heroes dodging the streak of purple magic as it collided with another tree.

"Symbolic," Mauro eyed the umbrella "but how are you going to-"

"When I say now I want you to cataclysm the sword" she stood up "counting on you."

"Ay, ay"

Ladybug moved towards L'Obscure, this time the umbrella clashing against the blade. Ladybug remembered the one lesson of fencing she had attended, she had watched Adrien way too many times, and she may have had an influence of a certain tv show time ago, but even she had to admit she would be no match for L'Obscure's skills.

It didn't matter, she thought as she avoided a thrust at her, because she just wanted to stall. L'Obscure lunged forwards again, sending another wave of purple magic but Ladybug was getting the hang of his skill to easily deflect it.

And when he moved to try another stab, that's when she smirked, opening the umbrella right on his face. L'Obscure lost balance from the sudden slap of red and black fabric smacking his nose, stumbling backwards until he tripped with Chat's baton again.

"Now Chat!" Ladybug exclaimed as Chat Mauro called for cataclysm, jumping on the blade to disintegrate it. The blade turned to dust before their eyes, the purple Akuma flying away, only to be snatched by Ladybug's yo-yo.

"No more evil for you little Akuma," she said as she purified it, sending away the white butterfly, looking back to see the dark energy dissipate from Adrien's side, leaving him as he had always looked like.

Chat Mauro didn't waste time to kneel down and grab a hold of his pen, sighing in relief when he saw it still in one piece.

"Ow," he held his head as he stood up, his eyes widening when he saw Ladybug standing before him "I… I am sorry I,"

"It's alright" Ladybug placed a hand on his shoulder, her expression relieved but trying really hard not to cry her heart out from how happy she was Adrien wasn't hurt "you took a hit for me…again."

"Always my lady," Adrien smiled at her, the tension he was feeling slowly leaving his shoulders as Ladybug pulled him into a quick hug since she had to throw the summoned object to fix the city.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" she exclaimed as the swarm of ladybugs invaded Paris, freeing the people trapped in purple magic and returning the city back to normal. Ladybug heard a thud behind them, noticing Lila was now also free, pulling leaves and twigs out of her hair. So Adrien had managed to find her as an Akuma.

A simultaneous beep called their attention as Ladybug, out of habit, placed a hand to cover one of her earrings, Chat glancing at the ring that now had two paws left.

"So, this is a time to skedaddle, am I right?"

"Wait," Adrien looked at him "Mauro?"

"Say it a little louder man," Mauro sighed "I don't think they heard you."

"You, h-"

"We'll explain when we come back," Ladybug swung her yo-yo "got to find Nino and Alya first, remember?"

"Right, yes, I will go do that."

Both superheroes jumped away from the park, a blur to the people that were getting out of the daze that had been the magic of L'Obscur. They jumped and dashed all the way to Marinette's balcony, with enough time for the de-transformation to occur, Mauro slumping himself on the floor, back against the railing as he caught Plagg in his hands.

"Food, now, cheese" Plagg grumbled, earning an eye roll from Mauro "feed me."

"Ask Adrien for that, I don't carry expensive cheese in my pockets," Mauro turned to Marinette, who had turned back to usual, already feeding her kwami a macaroon "you ok?"

"Adrien got akumatized," she slumped next to him, suddenly too exhausted "he is Chat Noir, a miraculous holder and even he…" she hugged her knees "and he looked so… terrifying."

Mauro remained silent, instead of giving her shoulders a squeeze, blinking when Marinette turned to hug him instead.

"Oh, ok" he returned the hug, giving her a few reassuring pats on her back "but you saved him, Hawkmoth has no chance when it's you who saves the day if anything you just proved to him he can't mess with you."

Marinette smiled, pulling away from the hug to look at him.

"Thank you, Mauro," she said, eyeing Tikki "I guess I'm just nervous of what could happen if it were me, Queen Bee, Caparace and Rena Rouge got akumatized while being superheroes and now Adrien, I can't let it happen to me."

"The sooner Hawkmoth is defeated the better you mean."

"I suppose so," she sighed "but outside of the one time I thought I had a lead, I'm drawing blanks of who he might be."

Mauro eyed Plagg and the ring still on his finger. He sighed and stood up, offering Marinette a hand for her to get up as well.

"Well, I am still your ally on this" he smiled "and while my initial plan was to help out with a… teenager situation" he shrugged "taking down a mastermind villain sounds also exciting."

"And how will you do that?" she crossed her arms just as Mauro pulled out his notebook and twisted the pen on his hand.

"How about you get your partner while I work my magic out?" he gave her the ring, "because if we are doing this, then he definitely has to be here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mauro came to this universe thinking he would only help out the Lila situation and look at him go. How will that unfold?   
> Thank you so much for reading, this is officially my LONGEST fanfic, taking over a wip I left 7 years ago that was over 24k words as well.


	13. Approaching an end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of an akumatization, a series of fortunate coincidences and one last revelation .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SORRY for this hiatus. Work got intense and hectic and then spiralled with other things.
> 
> Trying to balance drawing and writing is horrible but I'm trying.
> 
> But I finally managed to write the next chapter so if you are still around, enjoy!

 

Mauro placed the pen down and proceed to reread what he had just written. The usual, making sure the words were correct, the spelling important (one time he wrote "bears" instead of "pears" and that had been quite a problem) and that everything made sense altogether. His hand hurt, almost as if he had been writing for weeks nonstop (even if it hadn't been more than an hour) but he was relieved to see there were no mistakes on the words he had just added.

Marinette wouldn't take long to come back with Adrien. And then he would offer this, and after that? Either he took his leave or stayed for the aftermath.

"Right, first things first" he cleared his throat and looked back at the paper. The bigger reveal could wait a few more minutes. For now, it was time to make sure he finally did what he had set up to do since the moment he arrived to this universe.

oOo

Adrien's head felt funny. It didn't hurt per se but he felt like his body was moving on its own, his brain trying to recover a sense of normalcy in gathering thoughts.

He had been akumatized. He was saved, flawlessly by his Lady if he had to add, but he still had been victim of Hawkmoth. He was lucky enough it didn't happen while he was transformed, who knows how that would have ended up as, but it only made him worry more. He had seen miraculous holders getting akumatized, who's to say it wouldn't happen to him?

He reached the stairs of the school almost at the same time Marinette appeared.

"Adrien!" she called out and ran towards him, stopping right in front of him just to give him a tight hug. He blinked, surprised at the contact but it didn't feel unwelcome; in fact, he hugged her back, some of his worries easing away in the scent of vanilla and flowers that came from Marinette's hair.

"Are you alright?" she asked once she pulled away "how are you feeling?"

"I'm… better," he rubbed the back of his neck "I don't really remember what happened while I was…"

"You didn't do anything irredeemable if that's what worries you" Marinette looked back where Nino was making his way towards them "I promise you that."

Adrien gave her a small smile, only to be crushed in another hug by his friend this time.

"Dude, are you alright? How are you feeling?"

"I'm ok Nino" Adrien patted his back, looking at Marinette who had a small smile "really, as good as I'll ever be."

"Where's…"

"Alya got hold of Lila on our way here," Nino turned to Marinette "and heard what she told Rose and Juleka, about how Adrien got akumatized."

Marinette didn't have the time right now to deal with Lila, not when Mauro had suggested a way of taking down Hawkmoth once and for all.

"Nino,"

"No, wait" Nino looked at her "you were right Marinette."

Wait, what?

"I mean, dude I was, we were all here when it happened and none of what she said was what really happened, you get me? You were right about her all this time."

Marinette looked at him, really looked this time. She eyed Adrien but neither he nor she had felt the warmth of Mauro's magic, so this was all Nino.

"This is not about being right," Marinette said "but to stop something from getting worse."

It was then when the warmth feeling showed up, both Marinette and Adrien eyeing each other with the familiarity of the magic. Adrien looked around but there weren't any changes, nor sensations that were unusual.

"Nothing happened,"

"Give it time," Marinette said, remembering the last time "it's not immediate."

"What are you talking about?" Nino looked at the two teenagers "is something going to happen?"

Adrien turned to Nino, only to raise his eyebrows in surprise when he saw the principal of the school making his way to the stairs where they were.

"Now, now," Mr. Damocles looked at the three teenagers "I must admit to be surprised to see students around here on a free day."

"We uh-"

'This was Mauro's plan? 'Marinette thought as she eyed Adrien who was at odds of what to say as well. Granted, it didn't have to be something grand but how would the principal would solve this out on a Sunday?

"Principal Damocles?" a new voice called behind him, causing them to turn around and then it clicked on Marinette's mind.

"Ah! Madam Rossi," the principal walked towards the woman that had, by coincidence of sorts, walked past the school building "it's so good to finally get to see you, with your phone unavailable from the moving."

The woman, Marinette had to assume being Lila's mom from the last name, blinked at him "my phone works just fine, it is yours that hasn't been repaired," she frowned "since the suspension of classes because of the akumatization."

It was like a snowball falling down a slope. Marinette knew this was something the three teens weren't supposed to be listening, but this was the best coincidence ever. Both adults were looking at the other that clearly showed how bad the information they had was, but Marinette had seen before the principal's reaction and he was also turning the gears of his mind. A simple encounter, just a casual moment that had a 1% of chance to happen and yet here it was.

"It appears there has been a problem of miscommunication here" Principal Damocles said, turning to see the teenagers who jumped back startled "I would like to solve this during school hours, it seems to be a delicate situation."

"I agree, I will arrive to your office first thing in the morning" she shook his hand and walked away, the principal turning on his heels to the school.

"Ah right, what I came here for," he waved at Marinette and the others and went inside, probably to his office. Marinette had to wonder for a brief moment if it was principal work or Dark Owl one.

"Huh," Adrien was the first to pronounce a sound "this, is not going to end well."

"You can say that again," Marinette hummed, remembering why she was in a hurry "oh, we uh, we have to" she pointed at her house, glad to see Adrien's eyes blinking and the slow yet noticeable nod of his head.

"Hey Nino" Adrien looked at his friend "perhaps we all should get together and talk later? After this calms down a little."

"I, sure but-"

"I owe Marinette an ice cream too," he added as he held Marinette's hand to walk away "but catch up later, ok?"

Nino looked at them, at Marinette's slight blush and Adrien's smile and just nodded, already taking out his phone to look for Alya.

"Now they are going to make assumptions," Marinette couldn't help but frown once they were at the bakery "but, that was,"

"It was the magic right?" Adrien asked as Marinette guided him inside "the word magic?"

"It had to be," she replied, her motions automatic as she opened the door to her room "I mean it was the-"

Oh, they were in her room. Marinette panicked for a moment, eyeing around the walls.

"I already knew," Adrien piped from behind "remember when Jagged broa-"

"Ok!" Marinette pushed Adrien towards the stairs "no need to relive that."

Adrien couldn't help but to smile a little, even when they finally reached the balcony and spotted Mauro cloud gazing.

"Well that took a while" he sat up from the chaise he was occupying "what did I miss?" he turned to Adrien "and how are you feeling Tuxedo Mask?"

"What? Why do I get to be called him?"

"Give me a break," Mauro stretched out "I ran out of inspiration juice with that cheap out I did about Lila's mom."

"So it was you,"

"It was indeed" Mauro showed them his notebook with the full page written down "not as climatic as one would have wanted but at least it'll have the least damage on you guys."

Marinette grabbed the notebook to read it, surprised to see how Mauro had even described their arrival to the school and the two adults gathering.

"Thank you," she gave it back "really, thank you."

"Ahh, don't thank me for this" Mauro waved a hand and turned to Adrien "not when there is a bigger insect to catch in this mess."

"What?"

Mauro eyed Marinette, who nodded at him encouragingly.

"I think I can help you guys out with your nemesis" he frowned "but you might not like how that will end."

"Why wouldn't I?" Adrien frowned as well "you don't mean…you know who he is?"

Mauro nodded.

Adrien didn't say a word. Perhaps it was because the magic was still around him, or he had finally took off the blindfold of his eyes, but he didn't need Mauro to actively say it. A part of him had had his suspicions since Ladybug said it, and if he looked at the boy's face, it was more than obvious the answer to that dilemma.

"My father is Hawkmoth" Adrien muttered "that's what you are saying, isn't it?"

Marinette's eyes widened as she turned to Adrien, whose posture sagged until he slumped on the chaise next to Mauro, hugging his arms tight. It was true then? Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth?

She couldn't believe it, but she had to because Mauro was not smiling and Adrien was quiet and… he had been akumatized by his own father. Gabriel had used his own son as a weapon, the man that wanted to control every minute of Adrien's life, that wanted to keep him away from 'harm' had used him as a tool against them.

Shock changed to rage, to disbelief and frustration. How dare he? How dare he did such thing over his own family?

"I'm going to-"

"Woah!" Mauro held Marinette's wrists "easy there! We can't have any of you two possessed right now."

"But!"

"I know, I know" Mauro looked at her and Adrien "it is a lot to take in and it sucks, majorly sucks" he let go of her "but you have to calm down, ok? I have no more energy to give you guys a shield, this will have to be done the slow way."

Marinette sat next to Adrien and held onto one of his hands, which gave a squeeze back.

"Adrien," she didn't know what to say, what was she supposed to say?"

"Mauro is right" Adrien spoke first "let's… cool down, and then we can work this out, somehow."

Marinette knew Adrien was struggling to keep it together, but he was right. She pulled him to a hug and squeezed him as tight as she could.

"We are going to solve this," she said, her voice firm as she hugged her partner "I promise."

**Author's Note:**

> Anyone familiar with Inkheart? Because that story is hella good.  
> Hope you liked it, if you did please leave a comment, that would be nice of you.  
> See you soon with the next chapter!  
> Quick edit because I'm a dork: My friend Rocco made this adorable fan art and it melted my heart, please give it some love too!  
> http://roccolangg.tumblr.com/post/183372399315/my-friend-is-writing-a-miraculous-ladybug-fix-it


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